








f 




» 

























V 






> 






o 



The author of “Harvest of Years/' “ Lovett e,” “ Tr if y, 
Maid of Copp’s Cliff / 9 “Papa's Madcap / 9 &c., &c. 


PUBLISHED BT 


•sTflE PROTECTIVE PUBLISHING COJtfIPHN*> 

9X*vo cH’au<m, 0o>vw. 



PRESS DF HDEGSDN & RDBINSDN, 


MDCCCLXXXII. 






* 



/ 




I- 




» 





~r\ 




U 









t- 


i # 



0©pi^aiej1Vt'e& -t1W £Uitfior, 1882. 





i 




•* 





r> 


4/ 

• \ 

> ;> 

t> ► ^ 




/■ 





* 




"P Z 3 

X 5^1(o 5 

TO MY PUBLISHER. 

You say I “ought to write a preface,” and I do not deny the 
propriety of the remark, but I am not enamored of prefaces* 

I abominate them, especially when obliged to write one, and the 
reason is plain ; I do not know what to say. 

If it is expected of me to beg pardon for taking the time of the 
reader, I am in no condition to do it, for the book is purposely 
printed, and I desire it read. 

In the case of Blue Ribbons, the matter was written to please 
myself, and while I am glad to admit, [what we all know is true,] that 
the pen of a “Dickens” could have done greater justice, and per- 
haps should have drawn pictures of the real characters whose ex- 
periences fill these pages, the task has nevertheless fallen to me. I 
have done the work as well as I could ; you desire to publish it, 
and now what can I say that is interesting to those who propose to 
read it ? 

It appears to me like keeping one on the doorstone, reading the 
name on the doorplate, when the fact is they desire to see the occu- 
pant of the house. 

I do hope the reader will become interested in my friends, but if 
they do not, it may be an incentive to another and different labor j 
therefore I must preserve silence., accept my fate, and also beg your 
pardon for not having sent you a smoothly written insinuation of 
excellence, breathing the polished hope of a majority of prefaces. 

Very Sincerely Yours, 


THE AUTHOR, 



CHAPTER I. 


f LEASE to walk in, Jane, if you’re a going 
to stay, for my lame ankle gives me a power- 
ful sight of pain when I stand. I'm free 
to Say you’re welcome.” 

“Excuse me,” said I, stepping inside at once, 
“lam unpardonably forgetful of your lameness,” 
and I took the chair Mrs. Chubbuck offered, feel- 
ing glad to get once again into the presence of the 
dear, old lady, whom I had known since child- 
hood, the one whose arm had lain around me when 
mother died, as her kindly face looked into my 
tear-filled eyes, and blessed comfort fell from her 
lips. 

“ Have hope, dear child, and remember as long 
as Charity Chubbuck lives, you may depend on 
her for a friend, and a home, too, if you have no 
better place offered to you.” The world held for 
me no relative nearer than cousins and uncles. 
A place I should have, for I was not left penni- 
less, but a home, ah ! never again, and in the 
months that succeeded my bereavement no place 
was so pleasant to me as this same little Sitting- 


6 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


room, where to-day, as in the days before, waited 
the -wooden rocker with its home-made cushions, 
filled with hens’ feathers, and covered uniquely 
with bits of different colored flannels set together 
in box-work, and adorned with polka dots in 
green and gold. 

To me it was as handsome as Paris embroidery, 
and, as I seated myself, over me fell the same old 
feeling of happy security which helped me through 
the dark days of the past. 

“I am sorry you are so lame, Mrs. Chubbuck,” 
I said. 

“Well, its been a long road, this rheumatiz 
trouble, and, you see, the older I grow the less life 
there is in me. My joints are all dretful bad, 
they’ re flat and stiff, and the doctor says there’ s 
no help for it, for the oil-bags are all dry that 
feed them. I expect it is so, still, I have so little 
to do I can get along, and just now I’ve got com- 
pany.” 

“ Which makes it pleasant, but am I to be turn- 
ed out of the synagogue \ I have dreamed of a 
week of perfect rest with you.” 

“No, no, Jane; you can stay and you’ll like 
her so much. I’ll call her,” and stepping to the 
stairs which led directly into to the back chamber, 
phe called, “Violet, comedown,” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


7 


“In a moment,” was the silvery response, and, 
in less time, she stood before me, with a pale, sweet 
face, framed in long, loose curls; her form slight 
and willowy, clad in. blue muslin, and around her 
shoulders, shrouding a neck and arms, which, al- 
though pleasantly shaped, were too thin for beauty, 
she wore a worsted shawl, whose color rhymed ex- 
actly with her dress, and made her look like a bit 
of blue crowned with an earnest, expressive face. 

Taking in the pleasant picture, and noticing her 
quaint salutation, which came naturally and 
sweetly from her lips : “Are you going to stay at 
Apple Rest a while?” I loved her in a moment, 
and answered spiritedly: 

“Indeed, I am, whether the Gods are willing or 
not. I shall enjoy it more for your being here, 
Miss Leavitt.” 

“Call her Violet,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “she 
likes it better than Miss Leavitt. Don’t you, Vio- 
let?” 

“Certainly, I do, the other seems too stiff, and 
is illy suited to a little girl like me.” 

“ Too little she is, Jane ; just look at her hands, 
they look more like bird’s claws than anything 
else. I do hope she’ll get some flesh on her bones; 
she is small-boned like her mother, and I remem- 
ber when she wasn’t any bigger than Violet, but, 


8 


BLUE KIBB0NS. 


good land, she weighs .one hundred and seventy 
pounds good to-day, and has done no end of work 
in her day. 

“Her first husband was a shiftless fellow, a 
tailor by trade, and forty years ago, when they 
were married, he had a good farm and everything 
for a good start; four men on the bench to w 7 ork 
fo'r him; and they come for miles ’round to be 
measured and fitted; he was the best tailor in the 
country, but the temptation to laziness that he in- 
herited from three generations back would stick 
its head out, and the fair weather sailin’ only help- 
ed it along, and when, after a few years, his love 
of new rum and hard cider crept along to lock 
arms with laziness everything was as good as 
killed. 

‘ ‘ Mercy, how the rails fell around the pasture, 
and in less than two years the place looked like 
a dragged-out centurion, (centennarian she meant,) 
and Violet’s mother, poor thing, with her spunk 
and work stuck to the wreck till her fifth child 
was goin’ on seven years, and then she left him, 
for she couldn’ t get another meal to save her life 
there, and seven years after leaving him she mar- 
ried Violet’s father, a steady-going, honest man, 
who works along by the side of her, and they’ll 
be prospered, I know,” and Mrs. Chubbuck wiped 


JJLTTE RIBBONS, 


9 


her spectacles preparatory to picking up the maga- 
zine I had brought her, in whose pictures I knew 
she would be interested. 

Violette had sat during the recital with appar- 
ent unrest ; she was a sensitive, nervous girl, and 
although there were no reflections cast on her by 
the story told, still I knew her nature was such 
that she never would have pulled aside the dead 
leaves that covered the skeleton of the past, and 
I began at once to talk of the blossoms which 
were falling all about “Apple Rest,” as she had 
aptly named it. 

The house always seemed to me the embodi- 
ment of rest, and in the long winter evenings when 
I sat with Mrs. Chubbuck before the fire place, 
my sorrows went upward with the flames, and 
comfort grew in the glowing coals, and like them 
lived, through the night of my discontent, un- 
der the ashes, to wake with the morning dawn, at 
the touch of a friendly hand. This home was sur- 
rounded on three sides with thriving apple trees, 
whose fruitage was both full and fair, looking as 
if by chance some stranger hand had dropped a 
human nest among the odor of apple blossoms, to 
woo sweet rest and peace, and this name of Vio- 
let’s seemed a most becoming title. 

Violet was an easy, graceful talker, and while 


10 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Mrs. Cubbuck was reading the tales which the 
the pictures told her, we talked of flowers, birds, 
poetry and music. 

Her blue eyes were filled with changing light, 
and when she repeated some veres of Felicia He- 
mans, I had no doubt in my heart, that the dreamy 
far-off look which filled her eyes bespoke the po- 
etry of her nature, and I thought ‘ ‘ if she lives, she 
will be of importance to the world;” but she looked 
so frail, a chill ran over me, and I almost knew 
she would die, like all who are so pure and beau- 
tiful. 

At this moment three loud raps on the door 
leading to the little side verandah caused us all 
to jump, and before I could respond to the call 
for entrance, and thereby save Mrs. Chubbuck a 
step, the door opened, and an awkward youth 
entered, closing the door after him with a threat- 
ening emphasis. 

“Oh! George,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “is this 
you V’ 

He put both hands in his pockets, and standing 
before us, with his hat still on his head, answered 
slowly : 

“ It is I, be not afraid;” then clearing his throat, 
he drew up his shoulders in a peculiar way, as if 
to make some terrible announcement. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


11 


“Have a chair, George.” He bowed his head, 
as if in partial disparagement of the invitation, 
and said, “I know enough to sit down if I want 
to another awkward silence ensued, and at last 
he spoke. 

“My respected friend, I have come to impart to 
you the saddening intelligence that the comfort 
of my literal presence must be dispensed with ; I 
am about to withdraw; to leave this town of my 
nativity.” 

“ Going away, George ; what for?”. I shall miss 
you more than almost anyone else. Where are 
you goin’ ?” 

A smile curved the corners of his mouth, and 
another peculiar shrug of his shoulders, preluded 
an answer, as deeper into his pockets went his 
hands, the working of whose restless fingers was 
plainly distinguishable. 

“True to the feminine instinct, your sentence 
contains three distinct parts, the intermediate one, 
being the most salutary of the three, I must attend 
to that first and render my gratitude for the friend- 
liness which prompts you to say I “shall be 
missed.” “ I am exceedingly glad that you ap- 
preciate my undiluted friendship, for one who is 
an honor to her sex,” and taking a long breath, 
he threw back his head and looked to the ceiling, 


12 


BLUE EIBB0NS. 


as if in search of another mode of expression; pre- 
sently his eyes fell, and he continued : 

‘ ‘ And now the two questions which you pro- 
pounded, must be answered; but Mrs. Chubbuck, 
I forgot to eat my dinner to-day, and a bowl of 
bread and milk would be most grateful.” 

“You certainly shall have it, George ; but how 
on earth did you manage to forget your dinner?” 

“Oh! that was just no trick at all. I had a 
problem in my head, and when my forenoon’s 
work was finished, I worked it out on the barn 
floor, and the loss of my dinner did not occur to 
me till this very moment ;” and while I was won- 
dering what manner of an individual he was, Mrs. 
Chubbuck was getting the bowl of bread and milk. 

He took a chair near the table, on which she sat 
a large yellow bowl filled with rich creamy milk, 
and beside it a wooden trencher of considerable 
size, filled with appetizing slices of rye bread and 
some home-made doughnuts. 

I almost envied him the repast. He bowed gra- 
ciously, and invited Violet and myself to par- 
take with him, saying, if we could “hunt around 
among the dishes and find two bowls of lesser 
size, he would share the wealth of the lacteal 
fluid, and rejoice.” 

We, of course, declined, and taking his hat from 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


13 


his head as carefully as if it were very precious, 
set it under the table, on which he placed both his 
hands ; and with a comic air bowed low his head, 
and uttered a gutteral “ amen,” which caused merry 
laughter we could not suppress, Mrs. Chubbuck 
joining with us in a quiet way; she was evidently 
well acquainted with the hero, who to us was a 
marvel. 

Our laughter was increased, when with an un- 
lucky move of his limbs, the hat he had so ten- 
derly removed from his head, was upset, and a 
motley mass of papers deposited on the floor. 

“Hurrah! there,” he cried, “the very dickens 
and all.” 

I sprang to the rescue and gathered them up 
for him, placing his hat on a stand, instead of where 
it might again be upset, for which I received a 
compliment, and I really began to enjoy the strange 
visit. 

“ Well, I must eat slowly, since that is condu- 
cive to health, and I will endeavor to answer those 
two questions. Let me see, you asked me where 
I am going, and why I go. First, I go to the metrop- 
olis of the country to enter upon the duties of a 
clerk in the grocery store of Ephraim Crane, a tol- 
erably good man I think, but not the place I de- 
sire by any manner of means, ‘ ‘ and with a furtive 


14 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


look at Violetteand myself, as if lie would rather 
not have us hear, he added, ‘ ‘ the man sells liquor, 
but perhaps I can reform him.” 

I leave these hills and valleys because I desire 
to be in the shadow of a library, where I can bor- 
row books, or pay a nominal sum for their use, 
since I am too poor to buy, and losing time daily. 
I am almost as big a fool as my father, and he is 
determined I shall supplant him in lack of knowl- 
edge. I tell you, Mrs. Chubbuck, I am alone and 
single-handed, and I must crawl on my knees and 
beg for the bread of knowledge I so hunger for.” 

‘‘How old a man is this Mr. Crane V’ 

“Fifty, or thereabouts, I should judge, portly 
and evidently not abstemious, but a lover of con- 
diments and unnatural living ; the wrong habits 
of men are going to ruin the world ; literally ruin 
us all ;” and he groaned in despair, biting at the 
same time into one of the motherly doughnuts. 

“ You have been talking about books, George ; I 
meant to tell you before this, that there are some 
books in our garret, left by Mr. Chubbuck. I put a 
box full up there after he died, and never have 
looked at them since. I don’t want them and no- 
body will prize them as much as you. I guess you 
had better have them now. Violet or Jane will go 
up with you; my ankle keeps me from going over 


BLUE PwIBBONS. 


15 


the stairs, but the land knows there’s need enough 
of it, dirt an inch thick all the way.” 

u 4 The old cat and all her kittens,’ I shall be in 
town after all ; which of these girls is to go with 
me ?” 

“I will go,” said Violet, rising, and the last 
half of the doughnut vanishing, they were off in- 
stanter. 

“ Who is he,” said I, when they were fairly on 
the stairs ? 

“ His name is George Bean, one of the best souls 
in the world ; but so set on learnin’, that if he gets 
a book in his hand, or a problem in his head, it 
seems as if he was dead to everything and every- 
body. He started for meetin’ about a month ago, 
and just as he got within a stone’ s-throw of the 
meetin’ -house, some idee about tiggers come into 
his head, and he stopped by “Aaron’s Rock,” as 
we call the old stone in front of where Aaron Down- 
ing’ s house used to be, and marked out the tiggers, 
in his head, with chalk ; and when I come out of 
meetin’, I see him settin’ there with his hat off, 
and lookin’ as melancholy as if he’d stole a goose, 
and I went up to ask the trouble. The rock was 
completely covered with tiggers, and he looked up 
with a sickly smile at me, muttering something 
about an apostrophe, I thought, and I said 4 George, 


16 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


what ails you V He jumped up as if I’ d shot him, 
and running his fingers through his hair, almost 
screamed out, “ That is correct— triangles are just 
what we want ; now I’ll go on to meetin’.” 

I laughed till tears run down my face, and told 
him the sermon on the mission of Christ was over, 
and everybody goin’ home. He was mightily set 
back, but put on his hat and started along home 
with me, saying, ‘ Well, never mind, I guess I shall 
get to the celestial city in good season, neverthe- 
less.’ 

His father is bound to make a farmer and a cob- 
bler of him, and the poor fellow has had an up-hill 
row to hoe, so far as books and schooling. I am 
really glad for him, he is going away, though the 
people round here say he’s fit to teach the school 
at the foot of West Mountain, and I wish he could 
have it, and get good pay. I shall miss him, for 
every deep snow since Nehemiah died, has found 
him here digging paths all around for me. 

We sat a full hour waiting for the two explor- 
ers to appear with the books, and at last Violette 
camedown alone, her faceglowing with enthusiasm. 

“ Where is George,” said Mrs. Chubbuck? 

“Oh ! he is going crazy over his windfall; he 
has only looked at three of the books, and one was 
an English Reader; he said he had one, but he 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


17 


might lose it, and needed two; wished he could 
have two of everything. 

He reads beautifully. I wish you could hear 
him. I sat down on an old tea chest, and listened 
intently, forgetting we were staying so long ; but 
he will not come down at present. His eyes are 
like two stars ; he is the nicest young man I ever 
saw, and his soul is as white as snow ; I wish I had 
power to help him ; he ought not to have one bit 
of care ; and it is too bad he must work for the 
plain fare he asks in this world. I could almost 
cry for him ; but I must not stop to do that now, 
for you will be singing, “ Violet, put the kettle 
on I am Mrs. Chubbuck’s help just now, she said, 
turning to me with a naive smile, and apparently 
understanding the management of affairs, flitted 
out of the room singing 4 4 Blue Eyed Mary.” 

Supper was on the table, cream toast and be- 
frizzled beef, dainty bits of cheese on an old-fash- 
ioned glass cheese plate, rye bread cut in thin sli- 
ces and laid temptingly near a creamy butter roll, 
some patty cakes and doughnuts. Oh ! what a 
refreshing sight w^as that supper table to me, com- 
ing, as I did, from boarding school, where for five 
long years I had taught. 

We were ready to sit down, only waiting for the 
coming of George Bean, who came at last with 


18 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


his arms full of books, the personification of hu- 
man happiness ; he looked so differently, I should 
hardly have recognized the awkward youth in the 
bright eyed young man, who, with a wonderfully 
melodious combination of verbs and adjectives, 
rendered thanks for Mrs. Chubbuck’s gifts, and 
almost gracefully accepted a seat at the table. I 
shall never forget that supper, which was a per- 
fect feast to me in more than one sense. 

A win to winged day seemed my solitary week 
at Apple Best, just sweet and pure enough to give 
me an appetite for more, and inasmuch as I had 
engaged to go back to teaching, afforded me an 
opportunity for exercising patience, and exorcis- 
ing tears and regrets. 

Violet Leavitt was my principal study ; long 
talks and rambles together, brought me in close 
contact with her nature, and I marvelled constantly 
that I found so little in her that was common to 
others of my acquaintance. 

She seemed so perfectly good all through, as 
Mrs. Chubbuck phrased it — “ no whited sepulchre 
about her;” and her spirit in its pureness filled 
the earthly tabernacle so completely, that every 
look and action reflected the innate purity ; yet 
with all this refreshing innocence, which covered 
fier as a perfect shield, there was great strength 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


19 


and a charming originality of expression, which 
made her like an ever changing picture. If aroused, 
her indignation at any evidence of unprincipled 
acts was powerfully expressed ; and upon all gen- 
eral subjects she was posted, held not only by 
the beautiful thoughts which rose like tides within 
her to fall from lip or pen, but interested in mat- 
ters concerning life’s every day problems, and sat 
often at Mrs. Cliubbuck’s side kitting her shoe 
thread stockings, and talking of prospective crops 
with as much interest as if she were a farmer’s 
wife, and had a large brood of children to care for. 

She had queer ideas concerning names and in- 
sisted on naming me Millicent ; said it suited me 
exactly, and when she shortened it to Millie it be- 
came a musical title, and I acquiesced in her se- 
lection. 

4 4 Good bye, Millie, let me kiss you once more ; 
come back soon, poor Millie ; how you hate to 
leave us !” 

44 1 do, indeed,” said I, and gathered her close 
to my heart ; then kissed the comely cheek of my 
good, old friend, who whispered, 44 Come back if 
you can fix it,” and turned away with that poor, 
worn-out travelling bag of mine to walk alone the 
half mile between Apple Rest and the railway 
station, 


20 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


It takes little time to alter one’ s opinion of men 
and conditions when a full blaze of light comes in 
contrast with a glimmer, and when I got back into 
my pleasant room at school and greeted the bevy 
of girls fresh from home and vacation holidays, 
over it all came the picture of Violet at Apple 
Rest, and the third day after my arrival, I wrote 
to Mrs. Chubbuck just these words: “May I 
come and stay with you always ?” 

I had an answer in four days, written by Vio- 
let, and saying I might come by telegraph, trunk, 
carpet bag and all, and I went. 

Perhaps, I did not consider whether I might not 
be of service there at Rose Seminary, and it might 
have been better for the world had I done so, still 
the world has never grumbled at it in the least, 
and I, well, I was consulting my own desires — and 
no respect for the brief school term, through which 
I was expecting to serve — the one week of spring 
vacation had proved too great a temptation, and 
my comfortably filled purse helped me to the 
sequel. Jennie Grey, who came to take my place, 
was poor and needed the work, and upon this fact 
I quieted my conscience. 

Violet was at the station to meet me, and I 
was sorry— she felt it, and regretted her coming. 
I loved ker too well to meet and kiss her before 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


21 


the merciless crowd of wonder-seekers, that for- 
ever were loitering about this station, which was 
on the line of the Albany road, and where all 
Canadian passengers changed cars. 

Domiciled for life in the south-west chamber, 
which was allotted to me, Mrs. Chubbuck took me 
for better or worse, and the birds went right on 
singing as if nothing strange had happened, and, 
likewise, the right arm of the brook, which, two 
miles and a-half from Apple Rest, turned the old 
grist mill, and on its way down stopped to sing in 
the woods, and stretched lovingly across the 
orchard on the east of the house, and, being ap- 
preciated, was turned to good account, and kept 
a basin of stone well-tilled with pure and spark- 
ling liquid. 

In this delightful spot I fell into and out of ex- 
istence, and now, for the sake of telling about 
others, I desire to cover myself up in apple blos- 
soms and remain as if the pronoun I had not once 
been spoken. 


CHAPTER It 


t HAVE a letter from George Bean,” said 
Violet, delightedly. “A good, fat letter, 
too, but do, for pity’s sake, read the super- 
scription, Mrs. Chubbuck.” 

“Miss Violet Leavitt, 

“ Sojourner with good , old 

“Mbs. Nehemiaii Chubbuck.” 

“That is exactly like him, Violet ; no one ever 
saw such a queer boy,” and she laughed heartily 
and arranged her spectacles for a long look at the 
well covered envelope, saying: “Do read the let- 
ter loud if you will ; I want to hear how he gets 
on.” 

“ So be it,” said Violet, and in clear, full tones 
and with earnestness she read : 

“I, George Bean, now a sojourner in the me- 
tropolis of Duke County, whose name it bears, 
give greeting to my new-found friend, Violet 
Leavitt, in whom I am well pleased, and to my old 
and highly esteemed well-wisher, Charity Chub- 
buck, widow of good, old Nehemiah, whose death 
"Will never cease to be lamented. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


28 

“ Sisters : I remember the promise which I made 
you, and since it is one of my strongest convictions 
that he who promises should ever fulfill, refusing 
to annul even the slightest contract to which his 
word is given, I sit here in my attic room, (12 x 15 
feet in dimensions, and large enough for me to 
sleep in at least, since being always sober there is 
no fear of my hitting my head against its sloping- 
sides,) and by the light of a single candle, thread 
my way over the paper whose lines can hardly be 
seen distinctly. 

“ My eyes are tired, for I have read two hours 
since closing the store, and it is now midnight. 

“ My situation here is neither utterly deplorable 
or enviable. The man I work for is a good natur- 
ed sinner, who buys his potatoes by one measure 
and sells them by another, and although the latter 
is smaller and tends to make the stock last long- 
er, I have contrived to lose it, and hardly think it 
can be found — so much for that. 

“He obliges me to deal out the accursed drams 
which people persist in buying, although they 
know it will ruin both soul and body. I content 
myself for the present with reading them all a lec- 
ture on being temperate, and the hope of being 
able to reform some of them makes partial repara- 
tion for my unjust position, which is only one 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


24 

proof among thousands of the slavery we are 
obliged to endure. 

“This city is a cess-pool of iniquity, not full by 
any means, since its population is now only 28,500> 
and the area it occupies determines its inevitable 
growth ; rum and its horrors skirt its southern 
limit, and I watch nightly for some poor sot whom 
I may lead to his home, rather than see him 
abused by being arrested by the very law which 
permits him to buy his liquor at any corner. If 
I see a rich man drunk I let the police attend to 
him, but the poor ones I must help, since impi'is- 
onment and tine only render it harder for their 
wives and families. 

“My pockets are full of pledges, and I enclose 
one, hoping to see it filled with the names of the 
old soakers when I come again. The young, white 
face of my new friend, whose eyes, I suppose, are 
responsible for her name, will be a mute appeal 
which few can resist, and, armed with a pledge, 
she will do much good. See to it that this is not 
neglected. 

“God has done enough for this city to make it 
beautiful in his sight, and acceptable as a blessed 
gift to man, but the success of its merchants and 
manufacturers is to me a direful omen. It fore- 
bodes a perfect moral apoplexy. 


BLUE FvIBBOKS. 


25 


“The books Mrs. Chubbuck gave me are pre- 
cious friends, whose lives will become identical 
with my own. 

“If you have time, and can confer with me 
through correspondence, your missives will be 
sunbeams along the road, and cheer the path of 
a fellow traveller. 

“I had intended bringing up some hemlock 
boughs for Mrs. Chubbuck, to use as a specific 
for rheumatism — they are efficacious. The proper 
way to use them is to steam the parts afflicted. 

“Yours, for the redemption of man. 

“ George Beax." 

“What does he say about the apoplexy? I 
should think it was unhealthy there, Vilit.” 

“Oh! it is a moral apoplexy; he means that 
they are so prosperous in business, they will for- 
get to do good as it comes along, losing in the pos 
session of the bright gold they covet, the higher 
aims and purposes of life.” 

“Well, that is just the same everywhere, 1 
guess, but nobody would ever think of calling 
that general complaint the apoplexy;” and while 
the old lady sat pondering upon the strange and 
well prized friend, Yiolet hastened to the little 
cherry stand in one corner of her room, to obey a 
2 


26 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


loving impulse, and write a good, long letter in 
reply. It read just like her : 

“My Dear Friend, Mr. Bean, 

“ Yours of was received only an 

hour ago, and since I feel impelled to write you, 
I will not try to crowd back the impulse, but go 
right along talking to you just as if you were here 
beside me. 

“Mrs. Chubbuck is delighted at hearing from 
you, and we will try and find the balm in hem- 
lock of wdiich you so kindly speak. 

“We are anxious to prescribe a different busi- 
ness for you, and a more comfortable room ; one 
which is nearer earth than your present lofty con- 
dition. It is a shame for an honest man to be 
subservient to the will of one who is not only 
mentally inferior, but morally dwarfed also. I 
cannot believe you will staj’’ there long, and Mrs. 
C. has been talking with Deacon Rayne concern- 
ing the school in this district. He is desirous of 
your having it, and when the present term ex- 
pires, we trust the fates will bring you hither. 

“As for me, lam to be Mrs. C.’s right-hand as- 
sistant, a sort of Lieut. -General (or in general as 
you prefer.) My parents are going to the West, 
on an extended visit to father's old friends, and I 


tsttite ribbon-*. S? 

am, by choice, to remain during their absence, in 
“ Apple Rest.” Millie Dean is with ns as a 
boarder. She is growing literary, that is to say, 
she is literally good for nothing except newspa- 
per hunting, writing profusely in her diary, whose 
dimensions suggest an encyclopaedia, and then 
for a diversity, she begs me weekty to go to the 
graveyard with her, and sit forlorn on table tomb - 
stones while she copies at length the queer inscrip- 
tions, and now and then she prefaces them with 
a copy of the grotesque figures supposed to rep- 
resent angels. The wings come right out from be^ 
hind the ears, and I cannot accept them as a divine 
pattern. If I am to look like that, I never want 
to be an angel. 

“I wish you were here to night to read to us, 
or quote some of your favorite sayings from Pope, 
for although I am a moral delinquent, and lazy 
beside a worker like yourself, still I do appreci 
ate your spirit of justice, and shall be always your 
friend. 

“We shall call on your parents this week if 
nothing unforeseen happens to prevent. 

“With much respect for your ever f sentiment 
of right, I remain, 

“ Your true friend, 

“ Violet/- 


28 


m.rr. fttfeftok8. 


“ P. S. About the pledge-signers, I can hardly 
tell you whether I shall accomplish anything in 
that direction or not, since I am a stranger to nearly 
all the town people.” 

Mrs. Chubbuck asked the privilege of read- 
ing it, and evident satisfaction sat smilingly upon 
her face, as looking after Violet, who tripped 
gaily off to the office with her letter, she said, “I 
wish Nehemiah was here with us, he'd have gone 
crazy delighted at Vi] it's sunshiny ways and 
sprightly talk.” 

The correspondence thus entered upon was ap- 
preciated by both parties, and every week brought 
a letter to Violet and carried one to George Bean. 

Temperance lectures at the bar did not have the 
salutary effect that the young philanthropist de- 
sired, and the days grew no brighter, as his letters 
all testified. Still, he was brave and manly, and 
not until the last straw came that broke the cam- 
el’s back, (according to Mrs. Chubbuck) did he 
signify his intention of leaving. 

It was just before the summer school term closed, 
that a letter came, which caused Violet to exclaim 
“He is coming, Blue Ribbons is coming! 

Leave the crullers you are making ; 

Leave the pies that you are baking, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


29 

For I tell you, Mrs. Chubbuck, 

True Blue Ribbons will appear : 

Ah ! the Gods of love are singing ; 

Promises of hope they’re bringing, 

To our hearts while time is winging 
Our George Bean, truthful mortal, 

Soon will cross our home’s dear portal, 

Truths to teach that are immortal.” 

“Vilit, what on earth possesses you ; be you 
a making them verses on George’s account ? Set 
down, my child, you’ll get the hysterics! I’ll 
wash my hands, and get a pinch of snuff, and 
listen to your reading. I want to know what un- 
der the sun the news is, that sets you so crazy- 
like. Now I’m ready — go on.” 

“ I’ m so glad, I can hardly read, my voice trem - 
bles so, but never mind, here it is.” 

“George Bean, to iiis beloved friends who 

DWELL IN TIIE HOUSE NAIVELY TERMED 

“Apple Rest,” by the balmy breath of 
a Violet. 

“ It is midnight again in my luxurious city den, 
and with the result of the months before me, whose 
ending comes nearly to a tragedy, I am inspired 
to write you concerning my movements. 

“Pay after day I have dealt out the deadly 


30 


BLUE KIBBOUTS. 


poison which I abhor, and week after week the tes- 
timony in favor of right and against the accursed 
traffic has accumulated before me, as a mountain 
whose gigantic dimensions baffle all attempts to 
cut through, or circumvent it. I have run the risk 
of my life in trying to do my duty, and at last 
have been openly threatened by a man who, hav- 
ing for once a lucid day, was refused his dram by 
me, and in vain expostulated with. He not only 
denounced my boldness, as he termed it, but has 
sought to assassinate me, and it was the merest 
accident, or a wise ordering of what men call Prov- 
idence, that I was spared from this desperate at- 
tempt to take my life. 

“This is the final blow, and I, this morning, 
told Mr. Crane I would serve no longer as a dealer 
of poison. He will not abandon its sale, conse- 
quently I will abandon him. And now to the 
point : 

“Fall and winter lie before us, as a sequence 
to the golden summer which all might enjoy if 
they would, and while I am not anticipating ex- 
posure and death by frost, it is well that I should 
attend to all means within my reach of getting 
something to do. 

“Your previous mention of the school induces 
me to hope that I may succeed in becoming a ped- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


31 


agog tie among the rustics, (to whom I myself be- 
long.) 

“I have made the most of my time, and have 
left no problem in Euclid unsolved. Theorems 
are all realities, but it is not my purpose to tell 
the committee what I know, let them try me if 
they dare. I shall return to Hyde anyway, and 
if you see Deacon Rayne mention to him this fact, 
that I am about to drop the C, in the name of my 
present employer, and that brings me to Rayne, 
the difference of the letter a and y being just none 
at all. 

“I shall not serve another day, and you may 
look for me at any moment. ^ 

“ Yours, in bondage, but with hope of deliver- 
ance. 

“ George Bean.” 

“I will go right over to Mr. Rayne’ s this very 
night if Millie will go with me. It is moonlight,” 
and Violet looked questioningly at Mrs. Chub- 
buck, who answered, “you may, Vilit.” 

“ I declare, if that man had hurt George — oh ! 
if he had killed him, I never could have waited 
for the slow, though sure coming of God’s wrath. 
I would have searched night and day, and— well, 
I don’t know what I could have done, but some- 
thing desperate, if I had gone to jail the next min- 


32 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


ute, I would certain,” and her eyes gleamed with 
the light of determination. Truly, George Bean 
had a firm friend in the good, old lady who had 
known him well since his early years. 

Deacon Rayne rubbed his hands briskly, and 
jerked out, with emphatic enthusiasm, “ Yes ! yes ! 
glad enough to get him !— odd but good ! diamond 
in the rough ! smart ! smarter than lightning on a 
dry limb, yes! yes! hem — hem — glad to get him. 
Have a little cider and an apple. These little ap- 
ples are good— we call ’em ‘All the year round,’ 
they last from crop to crop. Wife, perhaps the 
young ladies would likeacmoler,” (with a strong 
accent on the crow,) and then, with a broad smile 
of satisfaction, patronizingly added, ‘ ‘ My wife is a 
grand cake maker.” 

Violet’s eyes were speaking for her, though the 
voluble Mr. Rayne was not aware of the fact, and 
was evidently disappointed at the short stay and 
the polite refusal to partake of refreshments. 

“We never drink cider at all,” answered Vio- 
let, “and I have a pledge to which I am getting- 
signers. Would you like to sign, Mr. and Mrs. 
Rayne?” and she produced the pledge. 

“Well, well,” said he, rubbing his hands to- 
gether, as if to insure thought by friction, “it’s a 
good thing, yes, a pledge is a good thing, but T 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


38 


never get intoxicated — do not need to sign ; plenty 
round us who do; good many who ought to; yes, 
yes, quite a number.” 

“ Will you Mrs. Ray lie 2” said the pure-liearted 
worker as she turned to the meek woman who was 
evidently used to being silent and unnoticed. 

“I see no harm in so doing, certainly,” she re- 
plied, in the humblest of tones, looking furtively 
toward her husband, who came at once to the res- 
cue with, “well, well, women have little to do 
with liquors, &c. — few of them ever get intoirouble 
through strong drink. Mrs. Rayne would be the 
last one to need to sign a pledge,” and he laughed 
in a low, miserable, meaningless way, and Violet 
hastened to make her departure. 

“Come again,” said the Lord of the Manor; 
‘ ‘ come again, we are glad of company. If you 
see George before I do tell him to come right over. 
Thank you for bringing the news to me. Glad to 
get George ; another teacher had applied. Good 
night,” and he bowed low, filling the doorway to 
the exclusion of his wife, for whom a feeling of 
pity would arise as naturally as that of contempt, 
for her small-brained husband. 

Mrs. Chubbuck was at the door, looking out 
into the moonlight, and Violet could hardly wait 
to get into the house, to vent her wrath and 
tell the news. 


34 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


4 "What clid he say, Vilit?” 

“ Say why the miserable, small-souled excla- 
mation point said ‘ yes, yes,’ and ‘ well, well ‘ glad 
to get him.’ I never saw such a torpedo of noth- 
ingness in all my life. He was all explosion and 
exclamation, and there is nothing to him. Mercy, 
Mrs. Chubbuck, is he a specimen of the commit- 
tee ? Why I do not believe he knows Geometry 
from broom corn. He invited us to have cider 
and ‘all the year round’ apples, and then in- 
sulted his poor, tired slave of a wife, by asking 
her to get some crowlers for us. Goodness alive ! 
the idea of a man who knows no better than to 
say crowlers for crullers, to accept the position of 
a school committee man. The idea of his pretend- 
ing to examine George Bean for a teacher ! Why 
it. is too ridiculous, and wicked beside. He calls 
our noble George ‘odd but good.’ I should call 
Mm , odd but not good, and I had hard work 
to keep from asking him how many hours a day 
his wife had for rest. He is rich, and that is all ; 
rich in filthy lucre, and a pauper in morals, a vag- 
abond in knowledge, a mole on the cheek of soci- 
ety, a bane to humanity, and a great stumbling 
block to improvement. I know that his wife is 
afraid to say that her soul is her own, and I’ll 
warrant she feeds the cattle, milks the cows, picks 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


35 


up her own chips, kills the chickens and carries 
them to market, and weaves rag carpet to sell be- 
sides, and when she has a spare moment, gets on 
to a load of hay, rides into the barn, and mows 
it away for her master. He is inferior in stature, 
as well as mind, and if she had started right she 
might have mastered him and taught him some- 
thing, made a part of a man of him, and now he 
is certainly the antipodes of that.” 

“ Vilit, for pity’s sake stop, 1 shall choke to 
death from laughing. How on earth you get so 
much in a minute I can’t tell, but you’ve hit it 
right, even to the load of hay, for she has always 
worked like a slave, and she actually fell in the 
barn when she was mowing away hay, and broke 
three ribs and nearly killed herself. He came 
over here to get some pieces for bandage, and 
growled about the long job he had before him and 
the cost of a hired girl. His money, to begin with, 
came from her father, and I suppose he is the rich- 
est man in the town to-day.” 

“ And not a single acre of it all is in his wife's 
name I know,” said Violet. 

“I couldn’t take my oath .to it, but 1 suppose 
not.” 

“Oh ! wliat an existence. 1 would rather be a 
kangaroo, than the wife of such a man. Talk of 


36 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


a civilized land ! of the glorious freedom we enjoy ! 
More battles than one will be fought. We need 
a new constitution ! something for every-day life. 
A map of social conditions to point out the true 
way, and keep people from these quicksands of 
ignorance ! I wish I were a man with an income 
of a thousand dollars a day. I would go out and 
preach and help the poor, weak waiting victims 
on every hand.” 

“Oh ! Vilityou know very little yet, the trouble 
can’t be conquered in a minute — there’s a good 
deal in everything.” 

“I think to-night has proven tome there is a 
good deal in nothing, and that is the trouble, but 
I am going over there again. I will behave well; 
but keep close to old Mr. Ignorance until I get 
where I understand him pretty well, and then I 
will tell him some plain truths. I know I can help 
that woman out of the pit her own hands have 
helped to dig.” 

“You’d better not go over to-night,” said Mrs. 
Chubbuck, quietly. 

“No; I want to sleep, and dream of something 
beside the face of an image unlike anything, save 
meanness and low-bred tyranny. I expect you 
do not call me a Christian, but I am the best kind 
of one, for I do not forget the rebukes of truth to 


BLUE RIBBOKS, 


37 


falsehood, which are scattered all through the 
New Testament. And to think that man is a Dea- 
con, too. What a sound church pillar he is to 
lean on. Why, I would not venture to have him 
pass the contribution box in broad daylight, and 
to deal with him one should have Shylock right 
before them, and know that instead of one pound 
of flesh, he would ask ten.” 

Millie ventured to scream at this stage of the re- 
cital, “that the performance was too good to be 
lost, and deserved public applause.” 

Violet laughed heartily, but declared herself in 
dead earnest, and “prepared for an endless holy 
war.” 

“ I am glad,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “ that George 
is to have such good help. Between you both, 
old things will pass away, and all things become 
new in this region.” 

“May your prophecy be verilied, my revered 
friend, and you may be sure, if the glorious light 
of a clear and growing perception ever dawns 
upon the meadow lands of this town of Hyde, the 
light of Deacon Bayne will be the wing of a fire- 
fly, compared with a full blaze of gas ; he will not 
be visible not even with the aid of a microscope. 
A moral filter will relieve the waters in our midst 
of all the hidden nitrites. God speed the day, but 


38 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


he never will, until his agents go to work, each in 
the territory which He, by nature, assigns them," 
and she closed her natural and strong argument, 
against moral depravity, and sat, with her elbow 
on the table, resting her head on her hand, and 
looking beautiful and sweet, while in her eye 
gleamed the holy tire of a powerful conviction. 

If her bodily strength had equaled that of her 
mind, she would have made herself known to the 
world as a powerful help to those who need. 


CHAPTER III. 


» ERE I am, once more in the presence of 
my good friends, whose characters are a 
product of infinite wisdom, for which I 
bless God and rejoice.” 

“Why, George Bean, you are like a metor, as 
they call them great stars that fall, you drop 
right down before anybody, just when they’re 
knee deep in thought ; but do sit down ; how did 
you get liei’e so early?” 

“Walked,” was the reply. 

“ Walked clean down from the city ? good land ! 
how did you manage to do that?” 

“By a proper use of my pedal extremities, bal- 
ancing myself well by an arrangement of my scanty 
wardrobe, and serviceable books, which I man- 
aged to hang in parcels over my shoulders.” 

‘ ‘ Good land ! have you been home V ’ 

“ I have not been to home as yet.” 

“ Not a bit of breakfast then ?” 

“None to-day.” 

“Well, sit down then, and rest your peddlin 
extremities, as you call your feet, while I get some 
breakfast. Yilit’s just gone over to Beacon 


40 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Rayne’s — on an errand — she’ll be tickled to death 
to see yon.’’ 

“Better not let her see me then,” was the terse 
reply, as taking from the depths of his pocket a red 
cotton handkerchief, the tired traveller wiped his 
face, which was flushed and covered with perspi- 
ration. Twenty miles’ walk before breakfast being 
accomplished, with no little exertion on the part 
of the muscles, whose vigorous work was recog- 
nized by every pore. 

“Come, George; set by and partake. Don’t 
stop for your “amen” this time ; you must be as 
hungry as a dog. Where are your bundles ?” 

“On your verandah ; the books are very tired ; 
they grew heavy and weigh as much again now 7 , 
as w r hen I started.” 

“You’ll be so lame to-morrow that you can’t 
use your arms — how much money did you save 
by this performance ?” 

“Fifty cents exactly ; just enough to buy me a 
new latin reader.” 

“Well, I’d rather given you fifty cents, than 
had you done it V ’ 

‘ ‘ Pay me for doing it, my dear sister, and then 
I will buy some astronomical tables, for which I 
am in sore need. ” 

The old lady laughed, and thought to herself, 
“he ought to have all the books he Avants.” 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


41 


The breakfast was good, and refreshing, and 
just as the last mouthful was taken Violet ap- 
peared, and welcomed him heartily. 

“I am fresh from the seat of ignorance,” said 
she, having been vis a vis with Deacon Hay lie a 
full half hour ; “ he cannot be sounded, for there 
is nothing but mud to him. I sat there as long 
as I could afford to, for the purpose of giving his 
wife a breath. She was in the barn, cleaning up, 
when I went there.” 

‘ ‘ I tell you, Mr. Bean, we have a great deal of 
work before us.” 

“I asked him to sign the pledge again to-day 
but he declared he has no need to pray ‘ lead us 
not into temptation. ’ It is evident he either be- 
longs to the Medieval age, or is a generation ahead 
of us all ; he is the most exemplary Christian for 
a sinner, you ever saw.” 

“Exactly,” said George, laughing heartily ; 
‘ ‘ why, you are a real wide-awake blossom. I de- 
clare, I believe the Lord raised you up to help 
me. I shall give the truth tiie right of way, and 
my motto shall be, ‘ Ad astra aspera ” 

“What on earth is that?” said Mrs. Clmb- 
buck. 

“ ‘To the stars through difficulties’; have you 
any objections?” 


42 


BLUE KIBB0NS. 


“Not the least bit if you only get there, but 
don’t let go of earth till you have one hand on 
Heaven, and something to steady you.” 

“That is wise talk, Sister Chubbuck, and for 
fear of falling short, and losing my hold in both 
places, I want to stay with you in your extra 
Heaven a good deal. Your house is nearer the 
school building than that of my sire, and if I can 
have an out-of-the-way place here, some little 
corner that your grand visitors and boarders will 
not want, I can keep my books within my reach, 
and not be in your way either Please pass your 
judgment, for if you say ‘George, T do not desire 
to be incumbered with your presence,’ I will 
trudge along with my baggage.” 

“You know well enough I’d as soon have you 
with me as not, and sooner too, if you’ll only 
milk the cow for me when you are here. I hate 
to sell her, but I thought these bad joints would 
force me to, for 1 can’t bear the thoughts of 
havin’ a stranger boy around here to do the 
chores for me, and I certainly can’t do it all my- 
self through the winter.” 

“That is conclusive. All things amicably ar- 
ranged ; I will take a stray corner anywhere, and 
now let me relieve my books,” and he hastened 
to bring them in, 


BLUE RIBBONS* 


43 


- “ They weigh a ton, George ; how on earth you 
ever managed to bring them things I can’t see.” 

“ Those things, if you please, which do not 
weigh the tenth of a ton. Keep the truth on your 
side, Sister Chubbuck ; when I get the books 
established I must go on to my blessed mother, 
who will enlarge on the difficulty of 4 boarding 
around. 5 ” 

“I don’t blame her ; it’s a pesky nuisance, and 
you’ll half starve in some places if you don’t 
keep track of my doughnut jar. You must re- 
member, George, I’m free to make all the dough- 
nuts you want to eat, and there’s plenty of 
milk in the buttery. I wish you was going to 
stay with me all the time; you need so much 
looking after, and I should head you off, once in 
a while, when you run so deep into them figgers 
you don’t know when you’re hungry. Land o’ 
Goshen, you will freeze and starve, both, I be- 
lieve ; let me work hard as I may, I shall keep 
you here altogether. Leave your dirty clothes 
here, Blindy can do ’em with my wash.” 

“ Sister Chubbuck you are a marvel of earthly 
wisdom,” and tumbling out a half dozen pairs of 
home-knit hose, he muttered, 44 I’ll get rid of 
these foolish things.” 

“ What’s that, George? ‘ Foolish things’; you 
call mixed wool stockings, and- seamed at that?” 


44 


BLUE RIBBONS, 


“They are unnecessary, and I have discarded 
them,” was the reply. 

“ What a queer caper ; seems to me you’ll try 
to live without eatin’ or sleepin’ next.” 

“I verily wish I might,” and he departed with 
his bundle of stockings, and a brain filled with 
thought, and toward dusk returned with a smiling 
countenance. 

“You look happy, Mr. Bean,” said Violet. 

‘ ‘ I am on the verge of that delusive feature, in 
the economy of nature; a brotherly greeting from 
Deacon Melancthon Rayne, has warmed to life the 
latent joy within me. He comes here to night to 
confer with me regarding the matter of the school. 
I prefer to have witnesses ; ‘ sure bind, sure find.’ ” 

“I hope you will stan'd up for your rights, 
George, and not let him Jew you down to the last 
copper. It’s little enough the teacher gets any- 
way, make the most of it.” 

“Sister Cliubbuck, you should remember you 
belong to the same church, and are bound by 
the creed, as well as the word, ‘ to support each 
other.’ ” 

“I understand that charity overlooks a multi- 
tude of sins, and I know that Melancthon Rayne 
and me, (“I,” interrupted George) have both got 
opr names on the same church book, but that ain’t 


BLttli RIBBONS. 


45 


sayin' we’re exactly alike. If I was maltin' a 
general prayer for the community, I’d ask the 
Lord to ble&s him with the rest, (if He could ;) but, 
George Bean, between you and me, (“I,” again he 
interrupted) I never did see, meetin’ house, or no 
meetin’ house, how the Lord could bless a man 
that hadn’t any room to receive it, any more than 
the sun could shine in the night for the sake of 
some poor sinner.” 

A smile rippled over the face of George, who 
sat tilting back in his chair, evidently anticipa- 
ting the pleasure. 

It was not long to wait ere the Deacon came 
bustling up to the side door, and, entering the 
sitting room, bowed on every hand, saying : 

“Good evenin’, good evenin’ ;’ true to my pro- 
mise, George ; calklate to keep my word.” 

“ Have a seat,” chimed Violet, offering a chair. 

“ Thank you, mam; hain’tlong to stay; come 
over to see George about the school ; reckon we 
must do a little talking ; make arrangements, 
yes, yes; nothin’ like beginnin’ right.’* 

“ You would prefer our room to our company 
then, perhaps,” replied Violet; “come, Millie,” 
and her blue eyes beamed with roguish delight. 

“ Well, like your company ; alius like it, well, 
hem ! just as, yes, just as George says about that,” 




r.T.T'K RtEfto^s. 


hoping sincerely George would say, ‘ go ’ ; but, on 
the contrary, his expressed desire vyas plainly 
understood.” 

“Stay, by all means; I have no secrets to im- 
part ; my best friends cannot know too much of 
me, especially in the light of a public servant. 
Go right along, Deacon ; lay out the plan, and 
tell me what you expect me to pay you for the 
privilege of teaching in Hyde.” 

It was an uneasy sort of feeling that came over 
the Deacon then, his chair even held thorns, and he 
shuffled about, for with solid Mrs. Chubbuck on 
one side, knitting with as much earnest serious- 
ness, as if in the performance of a moral duty, and 
the bright eyes of two maidens, upon the other, 
intent on listening, (but appearing as if uncon- 
scious to all surroundings,) one crocheting a mat, 
the other with a book before her, and before him 
the keen eyes of George, which were fixed steadily 
on his face, he was really in position where his 
usual smallness of soul could not courageously 
creep out. 

They 7 did not know his object in having a private 
interview, neither how hard it was for him to re- 
linquish the prospect of a small addition to his 
purse, but as it was, he could only submit to the 
“powers that be,” and make the bargain. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


47 


“Wall, George, the committee have put it all 
into my hands, and I don’t s’ pose there’s any 
great necessity for examining of you as close as 
we do strangers ; I hadn’t no idea of it.” 

George closed his eyes, and with a sort of sigh, 
drew in his breath, the ungrammatical speech 
fairly hurting him. 

“Wall, George, now if its really settled that 
you’re cornin’, the wages’ll be the next thing to 
tackle. We’ve been a wonderin’ if you’d come 
for less than $12 a month, and board round, the 
town funds bein’ egregious low this year,” and 
nervously rubbing together his palms, inclining 
his body toward George, at whom he looked curi- 
ously, his grey eyes peered from beneath their 
heavy lashes, with a peculiar expression ; in truth 
the Deacon’s eyes were a singular feature at all 
times, their brows lacking entirely the arched out- 
line, which is a chief beauty in the human face ; 
shaggy, and running nearly straight, forgetting to 
pay deference to the bridge of the nose even, upon 
which hairs stood like sentinels in suits of black. 
The Deacon’s face looked almost fiendish, filled 
as it was with the thought of a small gain, as he 
waited for the effect of his words. 

Mrs. Chubbuck had dropped her knitting, and 
pushing her spectacles up from her eyes, darted a 


48 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


look of defiance at George, whose keen blue eyes 
were like diamonds then, in a sudden sparkle, 
and then looking at the Deacon, her gaze fell 
piercingly as she waited for George to speak. 

Fingers ran through the hairs of brown, while 
the breast of a true man swelled with indigna- 
tion ; caution, of which he had a large share, came 
out at the call of the brain, and with its hand in 
that of indignation, quieted the wrath that rose, 
and the voice of apparent humility, spoke in 
place of anger ; albeit a little satire rose beside it 
as salad to the savory morsel. 

“My magnanimous friend, while I fully appre- 
ciate the great honor which is done me, in the in- 
vitation extended, to become a pedagogue in this 
district, it really seems to me that an individual 
who is twenty-five years of age, or thereabouts, 
ought not to do honest work among the rustics 
for less than the sum named,” and, clearing his 
throat, he continued, regardless of the Deacon, 
who winced at first, then sat back in liis chair, 
and now, like a turtle, was evidently about to 
draw his head into the compressed apartments of 
his shell. 

“ When I was a small boy I lived with a godly 
man, who got enough work out of me to nearly 
pay for what I eat, and although abstemiousness 


BLUE RIBBONS. 49 

is a virtue, I began to feel as if even a virtue had a 
proper limit, and after a year or so I grew tired 
of being Lazarus’ dog, and determined to do 
something more than pick up crumbs from the 
rich man’s table, and really, Deacon, it occurs to 
me I might, under some circumstances, be obliged 
to take up that business again. I guess, after all, 
Deacon, you want to give me $12 a month as much 
as I want you to,” and he smiled quietly, still 
looking at the Deacon. 

Mrs. Chubbuck was just ready to express her- 
self, when the Deacon answered, 

“ Wall, wall, we’ll try it at that.” 

“ Correct; and now about the rigid examina- 
tion. If you will give me a week or two to con- 
verse with the classics, I presume I might be able 
to answer the questions which you might pro- 
pound.” 

“ Wall, wall, don’ t doubt you could do it right 
away now without any preparing, and as for the 
classes, you had better wait till you get into the 
school before you talk with them.” 

“I guess I had,” said George, allowing the 
Deacon’s mistake, and with great urbanity offer- 
ing him one of Sister Chubbuck’ s good dough- 
nuts. 

The girls could not repress their laughter, and 
3 


50 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


leaving the room, flew beyond hearing, and in the 
low-ceiled buttery gave vent to the pent up 
tide. 

“ Did you ever see such a fool ?” said Violet. 

“ I never did,” replied Millie. 

“I am so provoked at him; and then to think 
of George turning it all into a joke. I would 
have denounced him on the spot.” 

“ And turned into Lazarus’ dog again,” queried 
Millie ; “by losing the position and the $12.” 

“ Pshaw ! Millie, who believes that one so capa- 
ble as George Bean, could find nothing else to 
do. The world must have a superabundance of 
thoughtless people in it,” and the blue in her eyes 
grew deeper, as she added, “ it does seem too bad 
for him to live here, where the rocks are softer 
than the hearts of the people.” 

“Them girls have gone somewhere to snicker,” 
said Mrs. Chubbuck, as Deacon Rayne vanished 
from her withering gaze, whose penetration suc- 
ceeded in making him restless, and the least bit 
self-reflecting. 

“ Those girls, if you please.” 

“No if you please about it ; I see they was full 
of laugh.” 

“ Were full, you mean.” 

“George,” and the old lady meant what she 


httrE fctBkOftS. 


fti 

said, “I tell you I don’t want to have everything I 
say picked at so. It don’t suit me at all; you 
know more grammar than I do ; for which I am 
thankful, but in my old fashioned way, I am just 
what I am, and you can’t fix me up, and put in 
I’s and things where they belong. I’m too old to 
catch the new wrinkles, and I shan’t try. You 
get such a habit, that if the Queen of England 
was here you’d up and say the same, and it 
makes me feel meaner’ n dirt. Folks’ll take all 
my mistakes just as well again, if you keep still. 
You know I mean it, and now don’t do it any 
more; will you?” 

“My blessed friend, the fact of your being in 
years, and so addicted to the misuse of words, 
that the expressions are a part of you, is one 
worthy of consideration; but for two reasons I in- 
voluntarily correct you, never in the least desir- 
ing to reflect discredit, since the mistakes are 
common to the section ; and also because I revere 
the wisdom which you have gleaned from long 
experience. Nominative I, possessive my or 
mine, objective me. This rule, simple as it is 
correct, reproves your improper use of pronouns; 
and your wise thoughts, if personified by the 
more skillful manipulation of language, would 
sound as melodious as they really are, and be 


ftltfE UiBbokS. 


better appreciated I know; this is my first reason 
for desiring to assist yon to more perfect modes 
of expression. 

“Secondly, you are venerated as one of Hyde’s 
most exemplary women, and your example of 
reformation would be of untold value. If, how- 
ever, I annoy you, as you say, I will be less 
offensive.” 

“You must, George; there aint no use trying 
to learn old dogs new tricks, and nominations and 
objections, as you call ’em, will be all the same to 
me through time; but I wanted to shake you for 
not resenting the insult offered by that contempti- 
ble, small-souled Rayne; I don’t believe a word 
about it. The committee never instructed him to 
make such a mean proposition. He expected to 
rob the town and you too, and I shall set him out 
in good style when it comes handy; he’d make a 
grand subject for sewin’ society discussion. Albert 
Hard and Enos Perkins are better men than he is, 
and what on earth they leave the school business 
to him for I can’t see, unless it is he worries ’em 
into it. Henceforth, and forever, I’ll call him 
Rayne, without the deacon ; he’s prouder of that 
title than our old rooster of his tail.” 

“I should think it likely,” said George, who 
fairly screamed at the castigation the poor deacon 


BLUE KIBBOXS. 


58 


received; crying: “hold me, hold me, it is too 
much and Violet and Millie ran to ascertain the 
trouble, entering the room just as George, in his 
great glee, tipped over, chair and all ; while Mrs. 
Chubbuck, laughing till she cried, implored him 
to stop, adding positively: “you’ll have fits if 
you don’t, and it’s a fact you bring a breeze with 
you always; you’re tickled to death to think 
Rayne’s actin’ so like a fool has got my temper 
raised to bilin’.” 

“Stop! stop!” he cried; “oh! this is rich.” 

School opened with eighteen scholars, great and 
small, young and old, bright and dull — mostly 
the latter. 

The performance of the first day was suggestive, 
and fixed the fact in the minds of the pupils that 
George was the master, and that notwithstanding 
he was a poor man’s son, who might, and ought 
to have been possessed of more worldly effects, 
he was rich in knowledge, compared not only 
with them, but with the entire population of 
Hyde, save a few stray exceptions. That under- 
neath the droll humor, there was a biting sar- 
casm that sent back all their jokes with pungent 
effect; and that if George’s head presented always 
an uneven surface, it was because the hairs were 
verily bristling with thought, which, as it ran 


54 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


through his brain, caused the involuntary passing 
of his fingers through his hair. 

Certain it was that with the awkwardness of the 
first day in his new position, added to the peculiar 
ruggedness of his habitual manifestations, whose 
every move was indicative of the man, and at 
utter variance with all others, even to the manner 
of his bow, there was a certain revealment of the 
interior that commanded respect ; and the first 
piercing glance cast upon an erring scholar, shot 
straight through the offender, and like a half-spent 
bullet, finished its force on another. The second 
reproof of the eyes, accompanied with a pertinent 
suggestion regarding deportment, was the burst- 
ing of a bomb shell in their midst, and not one of 
the dozen and a half scholars that did not feel it. 

This was a desideratum, inasmuch as good disci- 
pline rarely reigned in Hyde, and George went 
home in triumph at night, with an inaugural suc- 
cess and a geometrical proposition side by side, 
in the room of his thought, while the ventilated 
ideas of the pupils, who gathered in knots of four, 
were a sage reflection on the logical teacher, and 
did credit to human hearts. ‘ ‘ He’ s a great teacher, 
knows lots, and we must mind,” said one among 
them. 

“ Yes, sir-ee, you bet,” answered the brightest 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


55 


eyed boy. “No more nicking sticks, and wear- 
ing extra jackets if he goes to flogging.” 

Up spoke a sweet Mary, blue-eyed and tender 
hearted. “ He’ll never flog a boy, never ; George 
Bean is a Christian man.” 

“ Does he belong to the church ? ” 

“Yes, he does; he joined the Baptist church 
long ago, but that ain’t the best sign about him; 
just think of Mr. Rayne, he’s a church man, but 
he isn’t George Bean.’’ 

“That’s so every time; three cheers for honest 
George Bean;” and there at the little school house 
under the mountain, went up three ringing cheers 
and a tiger, for one who would have made a 
grand speech had he been present. 

“ Did you have a hard day?” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck, as George entered the house at the close of 
this first day, “glad enough you ain’t boardin’ 
round.” 

“ I have experienced a pleasure which is akin 
to that of one, who after a long and weary pil- 
grimage, at last finds a corner which really fits 
him. The pedagogue’s chair is the place for me 
at present and a most agreeable change. The 
attendance however is meagre, I hope to increase 
the number by visiting a few whom I know have 
young children who must come.” 


56 


blue ribbons. 


That’s you to a T ; but if a few of them are 
as impudent and sassy to you as they have been 
to all the rest, you’ll have your hands full with 
what you’ve got to ’tend to. 1 expected you'd 
have your eyes half blinded with spit-balls thrown 
at you.”. 

George’s thumbs turned as naturally to the 
arm-holes of his vest, as his eyes to the ceiling, 
and after a moment, his face glowing with the 
light of a new pleasure, which he had long pos- 
sessed in an imaginary sense, he answered his 
interested friend. 

“ Ambiguity is an intolerable possession, a 
tenant which disturbs the serenity of those in 
whom it exists, and whose radiating influence is 
perceived by others in unpleasant ways ; while I 
was in the city, I was possessed of this miserable 
condition, and a fruitless wanderer in thought, 
although I lost no time in the store, and, to all 
appearances, did my duty, really did nothing ; 
but now, ah, yes, now I can live with paper 
always ready for my use; books under my eye, 
and while I am instructing the juveniles I can be 
helping myself. As to the scholars I am well as- 
sured that I hazard nothing in attempting to 
manage them. There will be no trouble, and 
while I may not expect great results, I imagine 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


57 


it will be no trick at all to hold them to their 
course; and that reminds me of an old Quadrant 
I observed in your garret, can I purchase it of 
you ? It is old I know, but of some service yet, 
and I need all such things. I have managed to 
get hold of the Level which was used in laying 
out our canal, and with a few mathematical in- 
struments I shall be really in trim. I need a 
Transit, a Theodolyte, a truly reliable Telescope, 
and a host of astronomical appurtenances, books 
and charts to lead my steps aright.” 

“.Well, you can have that old thing in the gar- 
ret; ’taint worth havin’ though, but I can’t see 
why you want to know so much here, you can’t 
make folks understand half you say, now, and if 
you go to gettin’ bigger words and higher ideas, 
who will get within gunshot of you? I can’t see.’’ 

“ You forget my motto, and the fact that it is 
not possible for me to know too much.” 

“I’m half afraid too much learning will make 
you mad, as they said about Paul.” 

“The old cat and all her kittens. If I can be 
as mad as Paul was, or be likened to him, I shall 
consider myself lucky,” and he laughed immode- 
rately. 

“Here stands Yilit waiting to talk, and I’ve 
had the floor so that she couldn’t get a word in 


58 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


edgewise, as sister Betsey used to tell me, when I 
got to talkin’; nobody could more than say ‘my 
goose she,’ and hardly that Go on Vilit.” 

‘ ‘ I only wanted to express my great joy at the re- 
sult of the day’s work, for one day among schol- 
ars is enough to prove a teacher’s position,- and 
perhaps the kindness of your heart, Mr. Bean, is 
the very thing they feel, and causes them to re- 
spect you ; I know I rarely judge a person by their 
words ; for if they have no sweetness beneath, the 
pleasant effect is lost, no matter how euphonious 
the syllables may be.” 

■ ‘ 1 wonder if there are any singers among them ?” 

“ I know not, and, consequently, cannot affirm 
regarding it. I fear I shall be no help in this ac- 
complishment ; for while I have voice enough, I 
know not how to handle it, although I ought to, 
for my mother sings like a bird ; her voice is as 
sweet, as powerful ; you must go over with me.and. 
hear her sometime.” 

“Oh ! I have heard her; you are too late; she 
sang: to me one hour, a few days ago, and I have 
learned, “ The rose tree in full bearing,” that sweet, 
old song ; but I was wondering if I could not come 
over to the school once a week, and sing with them; 
I would like to.” 

“That will be the very thing ; you must come 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


59 


right over this week; that is just exactly right; 
perhaps you will teach me to sing.” 

“George,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “If you want 
to govern the boys you’d better not try to sing ; 
you make such a noise, and get off the track so 
many times, they’ll all laugh ; I hain’t forgot the 
night at meeting I had to stuff my handkerchief 
into my mouth to keep from screamin’ right out, 
when you shot into Lenox, along side of Eli Jones, 
and you wasn’t within ten miles of the note. It 
give the whole meetin’ house a shock like one of 
them ’lectric caperin’ things.” 

“ So be it, my most amiable sister ; and now if 
you will let me lie on the floor, and think, we will 
let our little flower here sing something, and suiting 
the action to the word, he stretched himself out, 
while Y iolet sang, with touching sweetness, ‘ ‘ Flow 
gently, sweet Afton ;” and with the song in his 
ears, and Logarithms in his brain, George fell 
asleep. 


CHAPTER IV. 



LMOST every week opened a chapter in 
the school history, and from the verdant 
'S youth, who out-numbered his mates in 
both years and stature, to the wee slip of a girl, 
who rarely missed her place at the head of the 
class, there were anxious glances cast in the di- 
rection of the door, as regularly as Wednesday 
came, for Violet Leavitt’s visits were well appre- 
ciated by the unadulterated and natural admirers 
of human goodness ; and ever since the day when 
her sweet voice had joined with theirs, as leading 
the tune they sang, “Auld Lang Syne,” their 
hearts had beat as one, with love for the sweet 
comer, and they were getting on bravely. New 
songs had risen beside the old, and “Lone and 
Still beside the Streamlet,” with Felicia Heman’s 
“Bird of the Greenwood,” ran along side by side, 
brightening with their fresh sweetness, the time- 
worn dresses of the old and well-worn tunes, like 
pleasant lights which rest among dark shadows. 

The teacher, notwithstanding Mrs. Cliubbuck’s 
timely warning, ventured once to join the chorus, 
but the explosion which followed, settled in his 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


61 


mind the strong conviction that he was not born 
to sing, and he remarked to Violet that he should 
desist from further attempts at song, lest he should 
prostitute the dignity becoming to a teacher of 
juveniles. 

The scholars had increased in numbers, and the 
interest manifested in their studies was something 
more than had ever before been manifested. The 
committee were well pleased, and the two who 
had most brains were not slow in expressing them- 
selves. Deacon Rayne, on the contrary, was a 
“little fearful of givin’ George too much leeway,” 
and made visits to the school, and in diver’s ways, 
expressed himself regarding the manner of in- 
struction, &c. 

The teacher never forgot to ask him to say some- 
thing to his scholars, and when good opportunity 
presented, produced problems for some of his best 
scholars, asking the Deacon to talk about them if 
he desired, when he well knew he had no arith- 
metical conception beyond the first four rules, and 
upon one occasion, and about three months after 
the opening of the school, he consented to speak, 
and attempted an address on education. He started 
off very well, by explaining to them that the idea 
of getting an education was to know something; 
to not live without knowing enough to ’tend to 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


their own book accounts, thereby avoiding the ex- 
pense of a book-keeper, and the frauds that was 
generally practiced by them. “ Figgers,” he said, 
“are the very most important part in a man’s 
knowledge, and readin’, also, is important, be- 
cause, that while extra newspapers Avas unneces- 
sary, and a great waste of time, there was always 
standin’ readin’ matter that must be attended to.” 
After a short run of thoughts, with now and then 
a big word, which choked the Deacon as he grap- 
pled with it,, he began to baulk decidedly, and 
George was obliged to switch him on to the track, 
and at last he ended his hard work by saying, 
“It always was hard for me to speak, as it is for 
most shrinkin’ people, and the hull thing must be 
considered in a nutshell ; you w r ant to know some- 
thing, and that is the reason what the town are 
bearing the expense of a public school for.” 

It w r as fortunate for the aspiring deacon, that he 
did not read the expression of disgust in the child- 
ren’ s faces, as a good reader of human nature 
would have easily done. When he took his de- 
parture, his breast was inflated with the self-rend- 
ered verdict of success ; and he determined to 
again venture on the same sea, when opportunity 
presented. 

The teacher had been filled with a sense of the 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


63 


ridiculousness of the speech, and read aright the 
minds of his pupils. After the afternoon reading 
exercise he dismissed the school, and went laugh- 
ing over the hill, toward Mrs. Chubbuck’s. Her 
house was really the best house he ever knew, 
and he never sat at the well-appointed table, with- 
out thinking of something which for a long time 
he did not tell — something regarding his home 
and mother. 

It was not a wonder that the girls and boys held 
an indignation meeting after school that night, al- 
beit the days were short, and the sun hastening 
westward, with the rapidity one learns to respect, 
if not admire, and the exercises were of necessity, 
short, giving only time for a word all round, and 
the verdict, which was rendered by acclamation. 

“The Deacon ought to be court martialed ; 
that’s a fact,” said bright-eyed Mary and Tom. 
Scot t ; the giant among them declared “he would 
haul him up himself ef he give George Bean any 
sarse.” 

“We’ve got to go home,” said Timothy Todd, 
“but let’s come early to-morrow, and make some 
resolutions, and present a paper to Mr. Bean. He 
needn’t think that we think he does anything but 
right, for all Melanctlion Bayne’s hintin’, .and 
swellin’ up like a toad, trying to scare us with big 


64 BLUE RIBBONS. 

words, and puttin’ every one in the wrong place.” 

‘.‘Pretty good for Timothy grass,” said Mary; 
“I guess I can make some resolutions that will 
suit us ; come early.” 

And with dinner kettle swinging, 

And tangled curls of gold, 

The sweet ambitious Mary 
Ran toward the dear home-fold. 

Promptly at 8 o’clock they were all before the 
school house door, and as their teacher came 
within sight, wrapped, as usual, in the mantle of 
his thoughts, his attention was arrested by a loud 
shout, and with the touch of a second thought, he 
turned aside from the main path which led to the 
building, and, going swiftly to its rear, made his 
way to a sheltered side, where he could see, and 
not be seen. 

Bright-eyed Mary was the speaker. She had 
doffed her mittens, and her tin dinner pail rested 
on the snow beside her. Evidently, some import- 
ant message was to be given. 

“Now don’t laugh so boys; I’ll never be able 
to read it in the world if you do. This is the 
third time I’ve tried, and Mr. Bean’ll be here. 
Do keep still, please. The tune is ‘Yankee Doo- 
dle, ’ and I’ve made five copies, and we can look 
over each other when we sing. I’ll just read it 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


65 


through once, and when you sing, remember to 
begin with one extra note for the Deacon. There's 
only ten verses, but I can make more.” Then in 
clear loud tones, and, with great enthusiasm, she 
read : 

Deacon Melanethon Rayne ; he came 
- Inside our school house door, 

And there he stood by good George Bean, 

And talked an hour or more. 


Chorus. — Poor Melanethon, Lancthon Rayne, 

Poor Melanethon Rayne ; 

If he knows what’s good for him 
He never’ll come again. 

George Bean knows more in half a minute • 

Than he does in all day ; 

And when he comes again to talk, 

We’ll scare the crow away. 

Chorus. — 

He talked about our reading, and 
About our ’rithmetic ; 

He don’t know what a fraction is, 

His skull it is so thick. 

Chorus. — 

George was bursting with appreciation of the 
scene. The air clamored fairly with the unyield- 
ing nasal chorus embodying bitter “ Lancthon’ s” 
ambitiously elongated ; as from the throats of the 
children, the syllables were zealously launched 
upon the tide of air. The old mountain seemed 


66 


BLUE BIBBONS. 


laughing at them, as it threw back their words, 
one after another, with as much force as they were 
given, and no unprejudiced observer could have 
said there was lack of effort on the part of the 
children, even though skill did not appear. But 
the honest teacher knew it was not wise for the 
entire poem to be sung, and at the end of the third 
verse, and its chorus, made his appearance. They 
were warming with zeal, and the syllable “Dea” 
came from their lips, as without warning, he stepped 
before them. That one syllable which ended sud- 
denly, was like the discharge of a pistol, and every 
eye turned to meet the gaze of the teacher, who 
stood with both hands in his pockets, his eyes 
twinkling roguishly, and a perplexed smile cross- 
ing his face as he spoke. 

“My dear children, while I appreciate your 
kindly feeling for ‘good George Bean,’ I cannot 
permit your musical entertainment to be carried 
further, for reasons of both policy and principle. 
Principle instructs us to beware of giving a brother 
offense, even though we ourselves may suffer at 
his hands, and it is always better to suffer wrong 
than to do it. You remember how we read in the 
good book, ‘if a man sue you at the law, and 
take your coat, give him your cloak also.’ Let 
us practice it as nearly as we can, allowing our- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


67 


selves a little room for thought, by being as ‘ wise 
as serpents and as harmless as doves.’ 

“Then, again, true policy teaches us to speak 
well of the bridge that we cross in safety. 

“Deacon Rayne who, it seems, has, in your 
eyes, proven offensive, was the man who gave me to 
you as a teacher. If he should chance to hear you, 
(and the power of your voices will penetrate a long 
way in this clear air, ) he would be greatly incensed, 
considering your song an indecorous outrage to 
his feelings, and undoubtedly blame me for allow- 
ing such a proceeding. This would lead to the 
inevitable result of my dismissal, which would be 
sad for us all. So you perceive the wisdom of 
both principle and policy bids you to forbear. I 
think I must not blame our ‘Little Lamb’ too 
much for her explosive rhyme. You all, doubt- 
less, felt more sensitive, regarding the Deacon’s 
remarks, than was necessary. I really believe he 
meant no harm, and we must call him a friend after 
all.” 

Mary was crying at the thought of being disap- 
proved, but the hand on her shoulder, and the 
word of kindness reassured her, and Timothy 
Todd asked boldly, “May we give three cheers 
for Mary, we like her so much?” 

“ Oh ! yes ; give three cheers for a young poet- 


68 BLUE BIBBONS. 

ess, and we will give her a better subject for her 
next verse.” 

Up went the three cheers, and the whole party 
went cheerfully to their school house duties. 

Verily the rein of love, guided by wisdom, is 
both silken and strong. 

The rehearsal of the affair proved a fruitful 
theme, and brought from both Mrs. Chubbuck 
and Violet, appropriate contributions of expressed 
thought. 

The winter was tilled with happenings. Under 
George’ s supervision, a sort of Lyceum for debate 
was born, and weekly, upon Thursday evening, 
the young and old gathered together in the little 
red school house to hear the discussions which 
were carried on with enterprise and vigor. 

Moral questions were those which were consid- 
ered, and George was always on the right side. 
More than this, the dexterity with which he used 
the weapons of his opponents in debate, was a 
source of amusement to the majority, and after a 
time it became a conceded fact that George Bean’ s 
side would win at all events, no matter what the 
question might be. 

The great love he had for temperance cropped 
out always, and when at last he brought this ques- 
tion before them, “ Is it or is it not right to sell 


69 


BLtfE RIBBONS. 

and drink intoxicating liquors?” the stir in Hyde 
extended beyond its limits, and numbers were 
present from an adjoining town, anxious to hear 
the discussion. 

There were a few sound men in Hyde, and not 
less than three who had really thoughts belonging 
to them individually, which they were desirous to 
ventilate, their neighbors to the contrary notwith- 
standing. This was a help, and George felt that 
his labor might not be in vain, for while he loved 
discussion, and was never more delighted than 
when an argument was in process, he was work- 
ing in this matter for a purpose, and it was a 
loyal one. 

It was not necessary for him to unveil the skel- 
eton in his father’s house ; not necessary for him 
to relate the various sufferings which he and his 
family had undergone, while tears rained down 
the cheek of his mother, and the albumen of his 
father’ s brain was cooked like that of an egg when 
subjected to the torturing fires of the enslaving 
draught. It was not wise for him to wound him- 
self by a public rehearsal of the loss which not 
only brain but soul had suffered in this demoral- 
izing process. Those whose experiences lay near 
his own could feel the truth as well from a word 
picture drawn at a distance, and the congestion of 


1 () 


BLUE MlBftOKis. 


feeling which shut up all the avenues of loving 
life, was most vividly portrayed in his plea against 
this traffic in human souls. 

A holy silence fell upon his listeners, as with 
touchingly perfect language, and a voice that trem- 
bled with feeling, he essayed to reveal the dimen- 
sions of the enemy, and gathered before them a 
sad-eyed mother, a group of sorrowing children, 
and a blear-eyed idiotic parent, for whom nothing 
but the merest pity could be left. 

‘ ‘ There is nothing left to respect, when a man 
has crowded his soul out of sight,” said the 
speaker ; “ when the hands of his heart are band- 
aged tightly, and the very fluid that warms his 
veins is congealed at the freezing touch of the de- 
mon drink ; when his eyes are covered as with a 
film he cannot see, and becomes, both in body and 
mind, miserable. It is a sad fact, and I look 
about me to-day and wonder that the mountains 
do not cry aloud for help. 

“In God’s name, my friends, let us redeem our- 
selves ; let us raise here in Hyde a temperance 
banner, and let us, ourselves, make the strong staff 
from which it floats. We will sign the pledge, 
and if there come to us any who suffer this ac- 
cursed habit, we will help them to become men ; 
bring smiles to their homes and children. Many 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


71 


a poor woman struggles to-day to replenish the 
fires of comfort, which rum, with its own bright 
flame, has eclipsed ; for while it burns like a de- 
stroying flame, it makes a cheerless hearth for 
women and children to sit by. 

‘ ‘ Hear me, and help ; let us call to the people all 
about us, and swear ourselves, from this day 
hence, freedom from the accursed slavery, ridding 
ourselves of the chains, which the very stills in 
our midst are forging.” 

There wei’e few dry eyes among the assembly, 
and even the small heart of Deacon Rayne came 
so near the warmth emitted from the fires of thought, 
that he almost began to consider the subject ; but 
when the stills were alluded to, and he realized 
the fewer drinkers would relieve him of patron- 
age, he settled back at once into his narrow chair, 
and said, “Let the rest of ’em stop making 
whiskey if they want to ; I shan’t let my apples 
rot.” 

The vote was taken, the cause of right triumph- 
ed, and the benediction fell, as usual, on George’s 
side of the question. His delight knew no bounds, 
and, although, the hour was growing late, he 
could not avoid producing a pledge, and inviting 
the people to sign? 

“ Come, Millie ” whispered Violet, “ Let us go up 
and sign.” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


n 


“ Why, I have signed it before,” was the re-' 

ply- 

“ Never mind, the example is worth something, 
come,” and, arm in arm, the two went forward. 

This caused a ripple of sensation, and several 
young people ventured to add their names. 

“Behold the example of the young,” cried 
George, “a little child shall lead them. Come 
fathers and mothers.” 

The tall form of Eli Perkins was seen moving 
through the crowd in the centre of the house, and 
again George cried, “ Here comes Brother Per- 
kins, where is Deacon Rayne ? ” 

The deacon knew just where he was, and more 
than this, just where he wanted to be. He was 
edging his way out, and saw with pleasure before 
him the open way of retreat, at the very moment 
George’s call sounded like a clarion trumpet. in 
their midst. » 

Timothy Todd, turning quickly at the sound of 
his name, comprehended at a glance the situation, 
and with no deference to the form which was 
reduced by stooping to dwarfish dimensions, he 
answered loudly, “He’s here, I see him, Mr. 
Bean.” 

The deacon darted a look of defiance from 
under his shaggy brows, and mumbling some- 


feLTTE RIBBONS. 73 

thing about people’s minding their own business, 
still kept liis face towards the door, and a few 
minutes later had quietly slipped out of sight. 

The meeting was a success if the deacon’ s name 
did not swell the list ; and George walked home 
with the girls in high glee. 

Mrs. Chubbnck was waiting and impatient at 
the delay. Nine o’clock exactly was her rule, 
and here the old clock said twenty-five minutes 
to eleven. 

“They’ve come at last,” she said, breathing a 
deep sigh of relief, as their footfalls sounded on 
the crisp, hard snow, and George’s laugh rang 
out on the air, and she hurried to the door with 
the candle. 

“Good land of mercy, what on earth’s the 
matter kept you so long ?” 

“My dear sister, did you sit up to await our 
return?” 

“ I should think I did,” was the dry reply. 

“ That is too bad,” said Violet and Millie, in 
one breath. 

“Well, it ain't no use to talk about it now. 
What’s done is done. I might better sit up than 
go to bed and stew about you ; and how did I 
know but George had said something to make ’em 
mad over there, and you couldn’t get back. I 
4 


74 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


never knew a discussin’ meetin’ to last four hours 
before ; but you’re hungry, and I’ve set out some 
biscuit, and left some warm tea on the hearth for 
you. I’m a goin’ to bed now, and let you get 
your own victuals. I shan’t stop to hear a word, 
George, not even if you have found the beginning 
of the Millenium. I feel just as a bear does when 
he goes into his winter quarters, and I’m going to 
bed,’ ’ and she went and lay wrapped in thought 
one full hour, part of the time amused to hear the 
movements of the trio who could not refrain from 
talking over the meeting; and George’s whisper 
particularly pleased her. As sleep came slowly 
near, and settled at last as a pleasant though heavy 
hand on her eyes and brain, she stepped over into 
the land of dreams, saying drowsily, “George’s 
whisper is as loud as an ordinary prayer.” 

“It wasn’t because I havn’t any interest in 
what you wanted to tell me, George, but you see 
I’m as punctual as the sun in getting up and 
going to bed, and I’m getting older every day, 
and one night’s rest lost makes the next day seem 
like a meetin’ with a dry sermon and no singin’ . 
I can’t somehow get along nights without just so 
much wake and so much sleep, but you can tell 
me this morning what you wanted to last night,” 
and the smile of pleasant expectancy settled upon 
the face of the good woman. 


fettfE TJtftftoxS. 


George cleared his throat, struggling with the 
thoughts which rose. “We had the best kind of 
a meeting, Sister Cliubbuck, and the last of it 
was a feast of fat things.” 

Here are the names enrolled on this pledge. 
This is a result which augurs well for the coming 
period, and few hearts among us will mourn the 
power of alcohol if the work goes on as bravely 
as it has commenced. I am paid in advance for 
all the kicks I shall receive for doing my duty. 
Eli Perkins and Albert Hard have their signa- 
tures here. Just look at the list.” 

“You can read ’em, my spectacles are in the 
other room,” and when he finished she asked, 
“ Where was Rayne ? ” 

“ He was present, but did not come forward to 
sign. Probably he felt delicate ; you know the 
deacon is of a retiring disposition.” 

“Yes, he is. I’ve always noticed that when 
truth gets into practice, and aims a gun at him, 
he retires about as quick as he can. I’m glad 
Eli and Albert have put their names down. They 
won’t take back their word, and you are all right, 
you may thank your stars for it, for the deacon 
never’ 11 forgive you for tackling whiskey stillers, 
and the meanest thing about him is, the stuff 
he sells is rot-gut, as they call it. ’Tain’t nothing 
letter,” 


ftLtfE. MELONS. 


w 

“ What an awful name,” said Violet. 

“ Well, it’s awful stuff, Vilit. They put all 
sorts o’ things in it. Land o’ goodness, I wouldn’ t 
wash my rlieumatizy feet and hands in the stuff 
he sells, much less — — ” 

It was a piercing, blood-chilling scream that 
came from a woman’s lips, and put an end to 
Mrs. Chubbuck’s unfinished sentence. The four 
who sat at the old fashioned cherry table started 
simultaneously, and looking toward the door, a 
sight met their gaze which caused feelings of ter- 
ror to fill them. Mrs. Chubbuck was the first to 
speak. 

“B’lindy, what ails you? Tell me quick,” 
and she went toward the woman, who stared at 
them with a terrible gleam in her eyes of faded 
blue, and giving no heed to the question, scream 
after scream escaped her lips, until, with one wild 
effort she fell as if lifeless. 

About her shoulders was a thin plaid shawl ; 
her dress was thin, and the sleeves rolled up 
above her elbow, her bare arms and hands being- 
blue with cold. She wore nothing on her head, 
and a heavy mass of dark hair hung about her 
face and fell over her shoulders, almost touching 
her waist. Her well worn shoes were not tied, 
and the gray knit hose rolled closely over them. 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


77 


She was evidently unprepared for her walk, and 
what could be the secret of it all ? 

‘ ‘ It ain’ t no matter now what the matter is, 
something queer enough has come over her, and 
what’s got to be done is to get her back to herself. 
You take her head and shoulders, George, I’ll 
take her feet, and lay her right in thei’e on the 
sofy. Vilit, get me the camphor. You bring a 
jug of hot water, Millie, and a basin of hot water, 
too, I want. There, that’s it ; she’ll come to in a 
minute. You go and eat your breakfast, George ; 
the school-house is waiting, you know. ” 

A few moments of work such as only good 
motherly souls like Mrs. Cliubbuck understand, 
brought blood back to the cheek it had forsaken : 
pain crept with life into the numb fingers and toes, 
and the large eyes opened to look wonderingly 
into the kind face bending over her. 

“ Never mind lookin’, B’lindy, shut your eyes 
for now, you’re tired.” 

“ Where — he — oh !” fell from the lips which 
were as yet purple with the blood which had 
settled in them, as over her frame ran a shudder, 
and the lids fell over her eyes and secret as 
well. 

“ Gone again,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “ give me 
wore camphor. I don’t believe $be ever fainted 


?8 BRUB RIBBONS. 

before in all her life; I guess Simeon’s been 
drunker’ n ever.” 

“Why, is she Simeon Eastman’s wife?” whis- 
pered George. 

“Of course, she that was B’lindy Jones, poor 
creature, she’s washed herself most to death. He 
hain’t bought a cent’s worth of anything but 
whiskey in five years.” 

Just then a moan escaped the lips of the poor 
woman, and consciousness returned. This time 
her eyes opened on George, who stood beside 
Mrs. Chubbuck, and the sight of it seemed to 
inspire her with strength, for she raised herself, 
and looking steadily into his eyes, said slowly 
and with great earnestness, 

“ Simeon is liquor wild ; he cursed me all night 
because I went to the meeting and signed the 
pledge : he was crazy drunk when I got home. 
I have had no sleep ; oh, let me die, die now ! 
Keep out of his way, Mr. Bean ; it was to warn 
you I came,” and falling back on her pillow, a 
thin, small stream of blood trickled from her 
mouth. Mrs. Chubbuck wiped it away, and as 
soon as she could speak Belinda told her it must 
come from her side. 

“Such a kick, Mrs. Chubbuck. Oh! he has 
killed me, surely. I am glad my babies are there, 
Do you think I will see them F 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


79 


Tears were gathered in the folds of an ample 
apron as they fell, and the answer came promptly. 

“See ’em? I guess yon will, B’lindy. I won- 
der what you’ve done to keep you out of heaven ; 
but you poor tired creature, you shan’t die. I’m 
going to keep you here with me now, and let you 
breathe twice in peace. Don’t say die.” 

“Oh! Mrs. Chubbuck, you are so good. I’d 
have gone long ago bu t for kindness, but I hope 
I’m sure of Heaven. You know I am a poor 
church goer, because I’ve been ashamed of my 
clothes. I had nothing fit to wear ever.” 

“Pshaw ! Jane, that would help instead of hin- 
der your getting through the gate. Don’t you 
s’ pose your thoughts of wanting to go to meetin’ 
would be carried right up to the Lord’s ear, by 
his angels that’s alius round readin’ our souls as 
easy as we read a newspaper ? Of course it would, 
and you’ d receive an answer and a blessing very 
likely, before the first part of the sermon had 
reached the ears of the folks in the meetin’ house. 
You’re goin’ to get over this, and now I’ll get 
Vilit to come and set here and give you some 
breakfast, and I’ll go and eat mine. You fright- 
ened me out of six senses ; I thought at first you’d 
dropped dead.” 

“Can I do anything?” asked George. 


80 


BLUE EIBBONS. 


‘ ‘ Keep out of his way, oh ! do,’ ’ said Be- 
linda. 

“ Never fear, my dear sister ; I shall not be 
hurt,” and when Yiolet came in with the break- 
fast, he took his departure for school, Mrs. 
Chubbuck following him to the door with a little 
raw-hide in her hand. 

“ Take this George, and lay it on to Simeon if 
he crosses your path. It’ll fetch him ; I’ve seen 
it tried.” 

George took it, and smilingly answered, 

“ I expect to be persecuted. No man ever did 
exactly right who did not suffer.” 

“Are you afraid of her husband’s coming 
here?” said Millie to Mrs. Chubbuck. 

‘ ‘ No rna' am , I ain’ t. He may come, but lie’ 11 
go away again, and without her too. Probably 
by this time lie’s gettin’ out of his tantrum, and 
will want her to come home, and bring something 
for him to eat. I’ve give him many a good meal 
for her sake, but now I’ll set my face like flint 
to the wall, and say, ‘ Get behind me, Sim East- 
man, you shan’t have another thing.’ I won’t 
even fill the vinegar jug, and he loves vinegar 
powerfully well when he gets over a drunk. Poor 
miserable fool,” and then she added musingly, 
“ I never did see any body that seemed to stir 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


81 


up things like George. A breeze follows him 
always ; he hain’tdone nothing but right neither. 
Christ turned the money changers out of the syn- 
agogue. Well, principle lasts longer than any- 
thing else. I shall stand by the truth at any 
rate.” 


CHAPTER Y. 



HAT a miserable little hut it was that 
I P Simeon Eastman lived in. Who would 
ever have dreamed of applying that sweet 
word “ Home” to the four wretched rooms it con- 
tained, two below stairs and two above, the latter 
running to the eaves on either side, and looking like 
little comfortless tents, with their lack of furn- 
ishings? The front room below had two south 
windows, and held a few poor pictures, whose 
original old-time beauty had fled ; and the sam- 
ples worked by Simeon’s mother such a long time 
ago, with some yellow painted chairs, which were 
her very best, and one might have more pleasant 
thoughts here, for, although, the carpet on the 
floor, made and woven for Belinda at her marriage, 
in the loom which now sat silent in the unfinished 
chamber of a large farm house twenty miles away, 
had been sold by her, to relieve a momentary ne- 
cessity ; one could imagine how the sunny south 
slope might have brightened at the touch of thrift. 
The two large trees of horse chestnut before the 
door were time-honored veterans, and this last 
year, a strange compound of life and death, for 


BLUE KIBBONS. ' 


83 


while some of the bare branches stretched forth 
their long arms and skeleton fingers, around them 
grew others with leaves of green, and wore the 
full sweet blossoms, that came and hung over the 
dead bare limbs as if to hide the sorrow ; strange 
that Simeon saw nothing of all this, and did not 
realize the typical language of nature, who, in her 
blossoms covering death, appealed to him in such 
a touching, tender way ; why could he not have 
seen it, and heard the birds, who came and sang 
in the branches, chirping, loud and strong, “Let 
your life bud and blossom, Simeon! there is yet 
time to cover up the dead branches, Simeon ! Sim- 
eon !” but they sang in vain, and, here to-day, as 
he stands before the door, and looks across the 
cold frozen snow, muttering something about 
women’s having their own way, a snow bird set- 
tles for a moment near, and, looking for crumbs 
where there are none, says sadly, “oh, Simeon! 
Simeon !” but he is deaf to it all, and goes back 
to his scantily furnished hearth, and the little 
bare pantry ; he is nearly sober, and quite hun- 
gry ; just as Mrs. Chubbuck said. 

“I shan’t go after her,” he growled; “she 
would go, and if she freezes, I can’t help it ; such 
a temper, and all because I happened to have a 
little whiskey in, and stirred up things a little,” 


84 


BLUE RIBBONS, 


and he fumbled about finding, at last, some meal, 
which he thought might be converted into mush, 
or perhaps he might make a Johnny cake, as Be- 
linda did ; he had seen her do it often. “ No ; I 
guess I’ll make mush,” and the little solitary ket- 
tle, that so often held mush, and nothing more, 
was called to hang on the crane hook; but the 
fire: “I’ll never have anything at this rate,” he 
muttered ; “I wonder what she does with all the 
wood ; she must waste it ; women are so extrava- 
gant ; married women and pretty young girls don’ t 
act much alike ; marriage is a lottery,” and his 
fruitless search for wood, went on, until at last, 
he shouldered one of the few rails that were left, 
and, grumbling still, went for the axe, whose dull- 
ness compared with the general condition of things 
on the premises ; and at last the water boiled in 
the little kettle, and with a broken spoon he stirred 
his meal into it. 

“I guess I can get me something to eat; she 
needn’t think I shall go after her if she stays all 
day ;” but the first mouthful of his pudding caused 
a puzzled look to pass over his face ; “something 
is the matter; what is it? oh! salt; well, that’s 
easy enough got. I wish I had a little milk to go 
with it; should have, I suppose, if I’d held my 
tongue ; can’ t do it always though, ’ ’ The thorough 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


85 


soberness which had come upon him, aroused 
the sense which really had a place in his brain, 
and while he still muttered, as he walked un- 
easily about, looking into the tire, and out at 
the cold grey atmosphere of the bitter day, he 
steadily felt the nestling of the truth, which ran 
into his heart when soberness left the door ajar, 
and he was in an uncomfortable condition of mind. 

George Bean ate his dinner that day slowly, and 
ventured to make some suggestions regarding 
Simeon ; Mrs. Chubb uck being thoroughly arou sed, 
to his abuse of his wife, gave no heed to the pity 
rising in the kindly heart of the philanthropist. 

“George Bean, eat your dinner, and don’t ask 
me to pity Simeon. I can’t do it. It’s B’lindy 
that wants all our pity ; I wouldn’ t give him so 
much as a cold potato ; put down your fingers and 
stop your “ shooing !” I feel a righteous indigna- 
tion and I say let the miserable drunkard come to 
his senses ; let him alone ; he won’ t starve before he 
can earn a breakfast. I know there’s work up 
there to the saw mill for him, and he knows it.” 

“Sister Chubbuck, remember the command to 
bless them that curse us, and also the fact that we 
should ask forgiveness only as we are willing to 
grant it. I shall take Simeon something to eat, 
and if you will not let me have something here, I 


86 BLUE RIBBONS; 

will go where I can obtain some bread, and pota- 
toes, and a piece of pork ; or perhaps better take 
it and not tell you of it until after the deed is 
done. The man is, by this time, in a pitiable con- 
dition, and suppose there is work waiting ; his 
hands tremble ; his whole physical being is jarred, 
and the effect of his debauch cannot be instantly 
wiped out, and you and I must do as we would 
be done by. I cannot rest, my dear sister, with- 
out availing myself of the God-imposed duty, 
which is incumbent upon every child of the sod,” 
and he waited a reply. 

Mrs. Chubbuck swallowed the tea that was cool 
in the saucer, having been stirred thoroughly dur- 
ing the remarks, and fastening the clear gaze of her 
talking eyes upon him said, “Well, I think Sim- 
eon has done enough ; he has wasted his substance, 
George, and, now to let B’lindy go back, and feed 
him up, will be jest what I’ve done more times 
over than I’ve got fingers and toes, and I want to 
keep her out of his way for a while, and let him 
come to anchor, as he ought to, and will, perhaps. 
If he comes here I shall tell an up and down lie, 
before he shall see her ; she has promised me to 
keep away, and ” 

“There, there,” interrupted George, “I would 
prefer to know nothing of your agreement with 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


87 


Belinda, and let me, moreover, explain that while 
I would not reveal her whereabouts, deeming it 
wisdom in the plan of her continued absence, of 
great importance, and a sanitary means of pro- 
ducing a salutary effect, I am, nevertheless, justi- 
fied in relieving the wants of a tired and needy 
physical. Rum drinking is a disease that invites 
most skillful treatment, and now, in the very hope 
of reformation, will you accede to my proposal, 
to carry him something to eat ?” 

“I have said I wouldn’t send him one thing, 
and if you make me tell a story George ” 

“See here, sister Chubbuck, you have this mo- 
ment declared that you would prevaricate if neces- 
sary to save Belinda ; it is only the other end of 
the string I am pulling.” 

“ Do let him have it,” interposed Violet, whose' 
tender heart overflowed easily. 

“I ask merely to buy the food.’’ 

“ Oh ! pshaw, George ; well, I shall go where I 
can’t see what you take,” and when she carried 
in an extra cup of tea to Belinda, and found her 
crying, she knew well enough it was because she 
was glad of George Bean’s manifest kindness, and 
swallowing a lump in her own throat, she said : 

“ Here, B’lindy, take this tea ; perhaps between 
George and me, we’ll bring the crooked things out 


88 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


straight.” Meanwhile, Violet and Millie were 
filling a basket, which was taken to school, and a 
rather short afternoon session was succeeded by a 
walk home over the road where Simeon lived. 

Rocks do not talk, and it was with perfect con- 
fidence that the basket of provisions was hidden 
securely within a stone’s throw of Simeon’s house ; 
between two friendly stones, and for this reason 
nothing was visible to Simeon, except the figure 
of George, whom he did not for a moment sup- 
pose, came intentionally near his door, but ventur- 
ing upon a thought, he accosted him with : 

“How d’ye do Mr. Bean?” 

“Hurrah there !” was the reply. 

“Just come from home?” 

“No, sir ; I am fresh from the academy of prog- 
ress in the sciences. Can I be of service,” and 
he came to the door stone. 

“Well, I wanted to ask if you see my wife when 
you went home to dinner?” 

“No, sir,” was the honest reply; “have yon 
lost her ?” 

“ She went off early this morning ; I thought 
she was going over there,” and a secret fear took 
possession of him, as he added, “I don’t feel over 
and above well.” 

“What is the trouble?” said George; “yon 
seem to be trembling.” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


89 


“Come in,” said Simeon, who was truly glad 
of a sympathetic word, and he offered a chair be- 
fore the meagre flame of the fire-place. 

“You ought to have some composition tea ; 
have you plenty to eat?” 

Simeon shook his head. 

“ Well, you are in a bad fix ; I am thankful I 
drifted around this way. Something must be done 
for you ; have you any more wood ? the fire is 
low.” 

Simeon looked out at the few remaining rails 
with a pitiable expression, shaking his head in 
answer to the query. 

“ Why, you must be attended to; what is the 
matter with you? you are a smart, bright fellow ; 
you should do better than this ; I believe the Lord 
himself sent me around this way.” 

“ Mr. Bean,” and the form of the naturally fine 
looking fellow, straightened itself ; his eye glowed 
brighter, with the impulse which an unexpected 
kindness had awakened, and he said, with com- 
mendable honesty, “ I have been a fool, and worse. 
I had a good mother and father, and I was taught 
to be honest and industrious. I always drank 
cider ; so did my father ; but I never thought I 
could live and do as I have done ; I am a brute, 
and not a man ; I ” but his voice grew husky ; 


90 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


his eyes filled with water, and he trembled so that 
George took hold of the chair to steady it, and, 
soothingly said, “ I guess you must have some food 
to strengthen you up, and, if you’ll wait a little, 
I will get something.” 

“I can wait, Mr. Bean, for there is no other 
way ; I wish my wife would come,” and his friend 
left him, to return shortly with the well-filled 
basket. 

“ Where did you get this ?” inquired Simeon. 

‘ ‘ That is a question ; but never mind ; here is 
what you want,” and, in his awkward way, for 
George was no help indoors, and could not be if 
he tried, he set the food before him, and, getting 
some hot water from the little kettle Simeon had 
hung over the coals, he made some ginger tea, 
which, with the addition of a little molasses for- 
tunately possessed, made a very appreciable drink ; 
the fire in the stomach left the terrible impression ; 
the scar which, though unseen, is fully apprecia- 
ted by the victim, and the stimulating and toning 
influence of the ginger tea, was just the thing, and 
George knew' it ; not because he himself had ex- 
perienced the like, but, in his own way of natur- 
ally and logically deducting facts, he realized more 
than others, and felt all the pity he manifested, 
and more, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


91 


“Now you feel better,” he said, as Simeon fin- 
ished the meal so strangely brought ; so sorely 
needed. 

“I do, and now I want to tell it all to you, Mr. 
Bean ; I will not keep back a word ; you un- 
manned me with your kindness ; I thought you 
were so dead set on liquor, that you never would 
have any patience with a man who drank, and 
before I say another word, let me ask you to for- 
give me. I have called you a ‘ darned old temper- 
ance cuss’; and more than this, other names which 
I would not repeat ; have cursed you when I have 
been sober, and I came very near breaking up your 
meeting with brickbats last night. I meant to do 
it ; I was whiskey-ugly all day and all night, 
and, Mr. Bean, I cannot tell all I did or said ; but 
I am afraid I hurt my wife, and she has crawled 
away to die ; if it is so, I shall tell the truth, and 
hang for it ; I ought to ; she was a pretty girl ; 
rosy-cheeked and bright and happy as a meadow 
lark, when I married her ; perhaps I am going to 
die ; I never felt like this ; George Bean, can you 
pray ? Oh ! God ; oh ! my mother ; do pray for 
me ! Mr. Bean ; what have you done to me that has 
brought me to myself; carried me away back? 
you, that hate rum, and whom I hated, to come 
and bring me food, and prove my friend ; I can- 


92 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


not tell the story ; look at the few rails left ; see 
the miserable bare buttery here ; look at the floors ; 
look at everything, and then look at me, and curse 
me for it all ; faded and dying ; wife and all ; oh ! 
great God, is she dead ? W ill you go and ask widow 
Clmbbuck ? I never felt like this before. I want 
you to go and find my wife, and I want you to 
stay with me ; I feel afraid ! afraid ! Mr. Bean,” and 
a terrified expression passed over his face, while a 
strange light gleamed in his eye, and he shook 
like a leaf. 

“I wish I had some assafoetida, I would give 
you some ; your nerves are in a bad condition, and 
when they are quieted, I will go and find out 
something about your wife, and also get you some- 
thing to take. I am sure your wife is not dead ; 
I recollect seeing her in the early-morning ; but I 
am apt to be abstracted ; I give little attention to 
those I meet. Let me see ; hops are good.” 

“ There are some in the house.” 

“Let us have them,” said George, and Simeon 
procured them. Hop tea was made and drank, 
and in a little time George was hurrying toward 
Mrs. Chubbuck’s ; he entered the door nearly 
breathless, and answered the inquiries which rose 
in his own peculiar way. 

“ Simeon was in need as, of course, I knew he 


Sttjfi RifiSoks. 




Would be ; his brain has undergone severe action, 
and I verily believe hyperamia would have en- 
sued had I not gone to his relief ; and now I de- 
sire some composition to make him a suitable 
drink, and if you will let me have a pail of milk, 
and a little bread for my breakfast, I will take it 
•along.” 

‘‘Why, what do expect to do ?” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck, standing in the centre of the room, as if 
struck with astonishment. 

“I expect to stick to the old ship, and pump 
as long as my strength allows ; I shall stay with 
Simeon to-night — he needs me, and I must take 
some word from his wife ; he is extremely anxious 
concerning her.” 

Mrs. Chubbuck raised a finger of warning, and 
went to consult with Belinda, who was in hearing 
distance, and listening agitatedly to the conversa- 
tion. She returned presently and told George to 
say to Simeon these words : 

“ B’lindy came to see me this morning, and she 
said she was going to keep away from Simeon, 
and stay with friends, and rest a while, for she 
could not work any more ; her strength was all 
used up.” 

“That will be a discreet message ; let me see,” 
and he slowly repeated it, word for word ; then, 


u 


fttfK 


with the pail of milk, and his pocket filled, he left 
them, not forgetting to take along the second 
book of Euclid, saying, “I may have to watch, in- 
stead of sleep, and I can as well be entertained as 
not.” 

“ What a queer performance,” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck, as she looked after his retreating form, and 
Violet added, “ he is a practical Christian, and be- 
lieves in work as well as preaching. I wonder 
when he will ever be appreciated 1’ ’ 

“ Never, this side of Jordan,” was the emphatic 
reply ; meanwhile, George was hastening toward 
Simeon’s, who was only too glad to receive him ; 
his face was flushed and he complained of pains in 
his head. 

“ Well, Simeon,” said George, “ I am going to 
stay with you all night,” and after delivering the 
message Mrs. Chubbuck sent, he added, “I have 
made up my mind to help you out of the ditch, 
and we will banish the trouble and sorrow that the 
bottle has brought, and fix up the place, too. You 
have some woodland with the little place, have 
you not ?” 

“Yes, sir; but you see the place is as good 
as gone, w r oodland and meadow, and the little 
shanty. It is only twenty days we have to stay 
here.” 


BLlfE RIBBCWS. 


m 

“How is that? It may be we can manage it 
after all.” 

“Iam afraid, Mr. Bean, your good intentions 
cannot be carried out, for Deacon Bayne is a hard 
man, I know, and still I have allowed myself to 
drink up my house ; he took a small mortgage five 
years ago, and I meant then to do the best I could 
and get right out of debt, and. as God is my wit- 
ness, Mr. Bean, I should have done better had 
Bayne not helped me to fall, by tempting me with 
his whiskey when sober. I worked at the saw 
mill and, of course, passed his still daily. Many 
are the times he has stopped me, and treated me, 
and it was just like starting a fire, after the first 
taste I could not stop, and was only too glad to 
accept his offer to trust me and take home a jug 
of whiskey. It has. been running on this way 
until now, and a few days ago he showed me the 
account against me, and made out a twenty days’ 
note for me to sign, and the worst of it is, the 
mortgage is over due. The note I signed was a sort 
of extra document got up for the occasion ; and 
the fact is, I am homeless, and wifeless, and sense- 
less, Mr, Bean. I wish I could die. Just see 
Belinda long enough to tell her I am sorry, which 
never will be any help to her, but relieve me a 
little, and then die, and ” 


BLUE RIBBoN§. 


“What next, Simeon ? I guess, after all, dying 
only makes us more alive, for it cannot be possi- 
ble that Deity gave birth to man for this life only. 
I think we shall go where all our faults and vir- 
tues will be known.” 

‘ ‘ I hope not, Mr. Bean, for that would be worse 
than all the rest. If I die I want to be dead, not 
alive.” 

“Ah! my dear fellow, you are just ready to 
live ; but what is the amount of the mortgage ?” 

“Three hundred dollars.” 

“ Oh ! well, that rejoices me ; why, your place, 
with its good land and timber, is worth twice that, 
and I should suppose you would have had a larger 
bill than one hundred dollars for whiskey. 

“I should if I had not paid him some cash, and 
given him a cow and two nice pigs, and the pigs 
Belinda bought herself ; oh ! I deserve to be 
troubled ; to go hungry ; I am willing to confess 
it all to you ; I am glad to, Mr. Bean ; 1 feel as I 
used to, when I told my mother of some wrong 
story I had told. It is pleasure for me to talk to 
you, although I know there is no help for me.” 

“ There is help for you,Simeo n. I will see you 
out into clear sailing, if you can control your ap- 
petite, and the first thing for you to do, is to swear 
by the honor of your remaining manhood, that 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


97 


you will drink no more ; never again let the ac- 
cursed, ruin-distilling cup, pass your lips.” 

“So help me God, I never will !” and with clenched 
hands and streaming eyes, that were raised toward 
Heaven, he made a picture such as angels pause 
to notice, and the blue eyes of George filled with 
honest tears, as he reverently said : 

“God and angels help you, Simeon, to be a 
man.” 

Stars were never brighter in their light than now, 
and the full, round moon, threw in her smile upon 
the bare pine floor, at the feet of these two men, 
as for an hour Simeon sat, with his head in his 
hands, wrapped in his rising thought, while George 
turned almost prayerfully to the problems in Euclid, 
and the clock in the corner tolled ten, ere they 
were aware of the time. Then the two went to 
rest together, fidelity to truth, and a newly awak- 
ened sense, sleeping as brothers, ’till the dawn. 


5 


CHAPTER VI. 



HE thought of Belinda’s being away was 


not one that administered comfort to the 


heart of Simeon. He could but accept 


the fact of her absence, however, and determined 
to try, and, with the help of George Bean, be- 
come a man once more ; daily receiving assurance 
of her return when everything was right, and 
while, if it was necessary, George could evade the 
statement of unwelcome facts in this case he 
was straightforward, and gave direct answers to 
all of Simeon’s questions. 

“Do you know where my wife is?” 

“Iam not sure that I do not; but I depend on 
you to bring the day of her return near. She 
cannot come to you until you are able to receive 
her, and bestow' proper care upon her. You 
must not question me further, but rest assured 
I can persuade her to return to .you at a proper 
time.” 

“I will try and do right; but it is lonesome 
enough here.” 

“No doubt about that, still I shall continue to 
look after you;” and he proved it, for every night 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


99 


found him walking an extra mile in order that 
Simeon might not yield to the temptation offered 
by the still; and the only reward he asked was 
the continued temperate condition of the man who 
was well worth saving. During the first week of 
Simeon’s, soberness and work, George was matur- 
ing the plan of attack on Deacon Rayne, to the 
end of securing the place, upon which the mort- 
gage was soon to be foreclosed. The evening of 
the seventh day seemed to make perfect the plan. 
He was sitting at the supper table, aud bringing 
his fist down with such force as to cause a general 
rattling of the dishes, and an involuntary starting 
of those about him, he exclaimed : “I shall walk 
up to him like a man, go right straight into the 
thickest of it at first, and then work out by the 
road which is most available !” 

“ What on earth are you talking about V 

“Ah! exactly,” he said, dreamily; “that is the 
very way to do. Yes, yes, my dear sister. Well, 
I shall now go over to my repentant brother, with 
whom I shall tarry through the night, for the 
snow is deep, and it is hard tramping.” 

“Yes, and you are half sick with cold now. I 
was just making up my mind to give you a sweat. 
You’ve no business to go over to Simeon’s to- 
night ; good land, I believe you take more pains 


loo 


BLUB RIBBONS. 


to look after him, than you would to find a 
wife !” 

“I shouldn’t wonder if I did,” was the reply, 
and he took his hat and a roll of papers. 

“Well, if you go, George, put on this overcoat 
and some mittens.” 

“Oh! mother in Israel, let me alone; I shall 
not be injured,” and he departed. 

“Anybody would think he was crazy,” said 
Millie. 

‘ ‘ He is crazy good, ’ ’ pleaded Violet ; “ oh ! 
how little you can know about such a man as 
that ; and his language is so beautiful and always 
correct. I cannot see how he has acquired so 
much.” 

“I’m glad 3’ oil understand him, Vilit, for I 
can’t tell half the time what the words mean ; 1 
kinder compare ’em with the rest of his talk, and 
get along that way. I wish he’d keep a little 
quiet. He’s got more plans afoot now than 
three men ought to tend to for a year ahead. 
Good land ! I never did see such a man in all my 
life ; nobody else ever did. I’ll help him all I 
can, and if he can do anything with Simeon he 
will deserve the blessing of men and angels. I 
declare ! I do feel mean enough to think I wouldn’ t 
help him in the beginning. If Simeon had 


BLUE BIBBOXS, 101 

starved I never should have forgiven myself,” 
and the face of the patient Belinda flushed, as 
within her struggled the hope and fear which 
their remarks occasioned. 

None knew how hard it was for her to sit and 
think, through these days, of the comfort which 
had been denied her ; of her earliest days, and 
Simeon with his young, bright ways ; the long 
walks and talks that were never so dear ; their 
marriage, which occurred in sunny June ; the 
blessing of the dear old grandfather, who en : 
dowed her substantially, and the venturing out 
upon the tide of life with a fair promise of mak- 
ing a harbor ; then the first light clouds that 
came, the cold hand of a secret fear that held her 
heart in its beating ; the revealment that came at 
last, when Simeon for the first time entered the 
hitherto tidy cottage in a state of beastly intoxi- 
cation ; when mustering all her strength she 
helped him to his bed, and then lost her con- 
sciousness, to lie for hours with none to watch 
save the helpful angels near, the slow coming 
back to life, and the strange sensations that crept 
over her, the clouded sight, and then Simeon’s 
waking from the horrible nightmare of delirium, 
the promises he made, the shame he felt. Oh ! 
how like a panorama before her spread the pic- 


102 


BLUE BIBBOTfS, 


tures, all too real. And after all she said to Mrs. 
Chubbuck, “ It will be easier for me to die than 
try to live, for it cannot be that he will ever be 
different — death is too near, his flowers are 
blasted, his feelings killed by frost. Poor Sim- 
eon ! if we had never come here into so much 
temptation — the still has been his ruin.” 

‘ ‘ There, there! B’lindy, now be still, ” urged Mrs. 
Chubbuck, “you are weak and nervous, and you 
have just got to a place where you must stop, so 
this gives you time to think, but I really begin to 
have hopes of Simeon, and you needn’t worry 
over losing your place, for George told me in 
secret last night that he knew he could save it. 
I can’t tell how, but he knows, and there’s one 
thing about George Bean, he always brings every- 
thing around that he starts for.” 

You might as well undertake to stop the north 
wind blowing, as to stop him when he gets 
started. Now don’t you worry, it won’t be long 
before you’ll be better, and in your own home.” 

“Oh ! if I could believe it,” and she sank back 
in the old rocker, which had been cushioned 
anew with especial reference to her lame side, 
whiter almost than the pillow at her head. Tears 
gathered in the eyes of her good friend, who 
thought as she looked in her face, what a good 


BLUE RIBBONS. 103 

looking girl she must-have been, and she prayed 
earnestly for strength and comfort to rise again, 
saying aloud to herself, ‘ ‘ He that seeth in secret 
shall reward openly.” 

Different scenes in separate places this winter 
evening were like rays of light converging toward 
a common center, and while, in her own way, 
good Charity Chubbuck upheld the faltering 
strength of Belinda, George Bean talked earnestly 
and long with Simeon. 

“ I have it all arranged in my mind and shall 
open my batteries Monday morning. I expect 
the deacon will growl and snap at first, and in 
many superficial ways attempt to discourage the 
effort. Then when he finds I am really in earnest, 
he will grow wild at the prospect of a loss of that 
which he feels is so surely his. He will denounce 
me in the vilest terms, threaten me with the dis- 
grace of being turned out of the school, and in 
the end I shall gain the case, keep the school, and 
keep right on robbing the deacon of customers 
for his miserable liquors,’ ’ and he laughed heartily. 
Simeon looked in wonder at his friend, whom he 
daily prized more and more. 

“ You talk as if certain of the results, and I 
wonder at it, Mr. Bean. If you had money I 
should know you could accomplish everything ; 


104 


BLUE RIBBON’S. 


but the deacon is the hardest man in the world to 
do anything with, and without money I cannot 
see the prospect which seems to be so real to 
you.” 

1 ‘ I have measured my man, Lieutenant. I realize 
the exact dimensions of his small soul ; he is 
neither truthful or valiant, and may the Lord be 
praised ! I am, in my own mind, well assured that 
the sword of a real conviction will vanquish the 
apparently powerful opponent, and the fact of 
his ignorance ; the real condition of the man 
whets the axe with which I shall decapitate him,” 
and, warming with the expectation of a victory, 
he preached a sermon whose moral fell into the 
good and waiting soil of Simeon’s aroused com 
sciousness of right and duty. 

“I tell you, Simeon, we are too afraid of these 
fellows ; the miserable Satan that walks constantly 
among us, is the broad-shouldered, high-heeled 
god of ignorance, whose parts are re-cast among 
men, and, like crows who are frightened at the 
figures set up in the corn field, men flee in fear 
when there is no necessity for it, and it only needs 
real backbone to run into and demolish all the 
moral and social evils of the world. There is no 
reason why you or I should bow to the will of a 
deacon, or a layman, because he has more of the 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


105 


filthy lucre than we ; the value of money is a tech- 
nical one ; it is a consideration for value received. 
A desideratum that should be measured by its 
power as a commercial agent ; not as a decisive 
existence ; a god to whom w’e bow with less sense 
than the heathen before an idol. No, sir !” and he 
brought his fist down with tremendous force ; 
“No, sir ; I recognize no supremacy in gold, and 
I dare to beard the lion in his den ; to walk boldly 
up to the enemy’s front, and I shall succeed, but 
I desire you to lie low ; no matter what occurs in 
your presence, or what may be said to you by the 
deacon— you let me manage it all for you and we 
will weather the cape in good order,” and he 
looked questioningly and almost sternly at Sim- 
eon, who answered positively, “ I will do exactly 
as you direct, Mr. Bean, for in your success lies 
my only hope and, of course, I know the one that 
drives must hold the reins.” 

“Exactly,” said George, “but the old cat and 
all her kittens ! it is already late, and I have done 
no figuring ; you ought to know better than to 
prosecute me with such long talks, and now I shall 
eat an apple and go to bed.” 

“ You are the funniest man in the world.” 

“ I am an incomprehensible mass of incongrui- 
ties. I expect you to reform me. Lieutenant ” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


106 

“ I should like to know why you call me Lieu- 
tenant so often ? I never saw even training day 
service.” 

“Every person suggests their own title to me, 
and yours is predicted upon the fame of the sold- 
ier of Gilmanton who left, as I suppose you know, 
his plough and oxen in the field, mounted his 
horse and rode away, while his young wife, with 
her babe in her arms, looked wonderingly over 
the field, and nervously thought of the battle. 
You are not ashamed of the title, I trust V ’ 

“Not ashamed, but glad to understand its foun- 
dation.” 

Deacon Rayne was walking toward his still, 
early Monday morning, when he met George and 
Simeon, the former greeting him with exceeding 
suavity, taking his hat entirely from his head, 
saying : 

“Ah ! here is the Deacon himself ; the very man 
of all others to see at the present moment.” 

“Well, well, what now, George?” and Deacon 
Rayne changed uneasily from one side to the 
other, and looked askance at Simeon, who, al- 
though desiring to move forward, was given, by 
George, to understand that his presence was de- 
sirable. 

Well, Deacon, the fact is that our friend Sim- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


107 


eon here is troubled, and you and I must help him 
along ; perhaps we had better go with you to the 
still, for we shall have to use a little time to talk 
this matter over,” and he turned as if about to 
retrace his steps, when the deacon broke in with : 

“Look a here ! I can’t give any time to you for 
a confab. I’ve got some things that must be 
"tended to, and so far as helpin’ folks goes, I’ve 
got about all I can do to ’tend to myself ; and you, 
George, hain’t got any time to spare, if you ’tend 
up to school as you oughter.” 

Throwing back his head, and plunging his 
hands into his ample pockets, he looked the Dea- 
con squarely in the face, and put the question : 

“ Have you, as yet, detected me in trying to de- 
fraud the town of time, or proper attention to 
the pupils in my care, for whose tutorage I re- 
ceive so sufficient a reward? Tell me. Deacon, 
have you any fault to find with me ?” 

“No, no, George, didn't mean Iliad,” and he 
drew his small head down into his shoulders ter- 
rapin like, “but you’re naturally a kind-hearted 
feller, and very apt to try to help everybody. I 
must go along,” and he started forward. 

“ Hold on ! Deacon,” and George sprang in his 
path. “I tell you I am in earnest; there is no 
delaying justice in this matter, and now unless 


108 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


you say I shall not go into the room at the still, 
(and the Lord knows I would rather talk to you 
anywhere else,) I shall accompany you thither or, 
if you prefer, go to your house ; and if you have 
matters which have your promised attention, I 
will wait as long as you desire — wait all day if you 
say so.” 

“ Seems to me you’re mighty pussistent ; I won- 
der who’ll teach school if you wait all day for me 
to talk to you.” 

“Never mind that, Deacon ; when you and the 
committee perceive that I am incapable, or that 
the school suffers from any lack of attention on 
my part, discharge me at once ; until then, give 
yourself no uneasiness concerning my affairs ; but 
which course shall we take?” 

“I’m going to the still,” sullenly replied the 
Deacon, darting an angry glance at Simeon, who 
stood boiling over with rage, yet trembling with 
fear and, lest the fumes of the still should annoy 
him, George, in his kind wisdom, said : 

“ Well, I will go with you, and the Lieutenant 
can go on to his work,” not forgetting to cover 
Simeon with a hopeful and encouraging look, as 
their eyes met. 

The two men walked along slowly, George talk- 
ing easily, apd with great hope regarding Simeon, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


109 


44 You see, Deacon, the hardest feature in the case 
is the prospect of his losing his place ; why he re- 
ally believes you will take it from him, although 
I have constantly insisted that a man of your 
means, and one who is bound by the laws and love 
of the church, by the very mantle of your Deacon - 
ship, to not only resjject the rights of another, 
but insist upon their maintenance; I say I have 
assured and re-assured him that this unwarranta- 
ble sacrifice would not be asked. To be sure, the 
place is not worth a great deal, but it is his home, 
and the chance to redeem it would be the very least 
that even an unchristian and selfish man could ac- 
cord him ; of course I know, Deacon, you are not 
going to distress the man,” and, together, they en- 
tered the still. 

Two or three customers were waiting with their 
barrels of cider, which must be resolved into 
winkum, and George overheard a whispered re- 
mark as he entered, which did not speak well for 
the Deacon’s good name. 

44 1 tell you if you want pure winkum, you must 
hang ’round. The infernal old cuss will cheat us 
if he can, and give us rot-gut. I tell you to hang 
’round.” 44 Aye ! aye,” whispered the friend, and 
at once the business arrangements were made with 
the voluble Deacon, who was blandly polite and 


110 


BLUE BIBBONS. 


all attention. George sat musingly on a wooden 
chair, with his eyes on the floor, ears wide open, 
and his soul filled with conflicting emotions. The 
business arranged, the cider deposited, and leav- 
ing John, the still boy, to attend to his duties, the 
Deacon came and sat by George, anxious to have 
the talk over, and evidently not desiring company 
all day. 

“ Well, now, George, what is it about Simeon V' 

George drew a long breath and, swallowing the 
truths that knocked at his soul’s door for a hear- 
ing, trying to forget all, save the great need of 
Simeon, he began his plea in a quiet, low tone, 
such as the Deacon could hardly give him credit 
for. It arose from the enforced convictions, to- 
gether with a careful survey of the premises, and 
carried to the heart of the listener a power which 
was felt. 

“ The first point is to settle the fact in the mind 
of Simeon, that you will not foreclose the mort- 
gage in ten days, as lie expects ; in short, 
that you will join with me in a good work, and 
while I am helping him to withstand the tempta- 
tion of liquor, you will be of great service, in tak- 
ing a new mortgage on the property, predicated on 
a long note ; that will be your part, and it is a 
great blessing to realize you are able to do it with- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Ill 


out any inconvenience to yourself and, thereby, 
avert an untimely sacrifice, and one which would 
be likely to end in the complete ruin of the man,” 
and the sharp, clear gaze of honest eyes were fixed 
on the man who was, at that time, under the strict- 
est surveillance. He felt the glance that pierced 
his very soul ; felt as if the secrets of years were 
being told ; the skeleton of his miserable, dishon- 
est dealing, taken from its dark closet, and re- 
strung on the wires of a dissecting thought, and 
he involuntarily shuddered; as if he really heard 
the bones of the skeleton striking each other, as 
the process went on ; a sigh escaped him ; tighter 
and tighter he clenched his hands, as deeper set- 
tled the unwelcome existence, and nearer to him 
crept the inevitability of the hour. 

Truly, the angel of the Lord had accompanied 
George, and stood beside him as he waited a re- 
ply to his proposal. It was hard enough for the 
Deacon to gather his words; he was taken by storm, 
and George watched the muscles of his face, read- 
ing, with both ease and pleasure, the tale they 
told, and he said to himself : “ Two shall put ten 
thousand to flight.” A clearing of the throat, and 
the silence was broken. 

“I’ve know Simeon a long time; yes, yes, 
longer than you, George — knew him ; tried to help 


112 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


him before — ’taint no use,” and he drew a sigh — a 
long breath of thankfulness that Satan could 
tempt even the child of the father— a victory on 
the wrong side, and the door of his heart closed, 
with a sharp bang ! as the sentence fell from his 
lips. 

“But you do not really intend foreclosure?’’ 

“I’ll sell the mortgage if you want to buy it ; 
yes, yes, sell it and take a leetle less than the 
whole amount. ” 

“ What was the amount of the original note ?” 

“ Original ? I suppose a note’s a note.” 

“You cannot hide the fact from me, or in any 
way gainsay the truth, that you have had occasion 
to change the tenor of the original, or first note, 
if you please to call it so, and I ask the simple 
question, ‘ What was the amount of the first 
note?’ ” 

“H’m ! you are goin’ to turn lawyer, be you ? 
Well, you had better show me your ticket.” 

“I have an inalienable right to defend my 
brother. ” 

“Don’t holler so,” interrupted the Deacon. 

“I shall use my own mode of expression, and 
articulate as forcibly ;rs I please; for I am about 
my Master’s work, and am not afraid,” and the 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


113 


Deacon winced under the stern glances of his su- 
perior. 

“ You needn’t get mad, George. The note was 
for two hundred dollars ; clean money that I 
hauled out of my wallet to help Simeon pull 
through.” 

“Well,” and George’s voice took a low key, 

1 ‘ what occasioned the addition ? I understood 
Simeon to say it was three hundred dollars.” 

“Yes, yes; three hundred dollars with in- 
terest.” 

“What did I understand you to say the addi- 
tional hundred was for ?” 

“I guess I didn’t say. H’m ! I ’spose anybody 
that knows Simeon would expect that he has 
needed help more’n once. ” 

“ Very likely ; but that hardly answers me. I 
want to understand this thoroughly ; things look 
somewhat cloudy.” 

Deep water all around the Deacon, and no hope 
of making shore easily ; tide coming in, instead of 
going out — listeners near — what should he do ? 
poor fool that he was, and no strength within to 
make him brave. Meanwhile, George waited, 
with knitted brows and piercing eyes, that grew 
each moment more of a torture. 

“I don’t know as I’ve got time to set here and 


114 


BLUE BIBB0NS. 


answer questions ; guess I must go to work.” 
George rose to his feet. 

‘ ‘ By the gods ! Deacon Rayne—” 

“Tut! tut, there; don’t swear.” 

‘ ‘ Hold your peace ; I do swear by the eternal 
truth, to fight in the defence of right and justice, 
and to think one moment of the accursed posi- 
tion you force me to take, arouses my just indig- 
nation. You, a Deacon ! of the church of Christ ! 
a man who gives vent to long prayers which, 
though ungrammatical, would reach the throne of 
God if they savored of sincerity ; you, who pre- 
tend to believe the words of Him who said to the 
Magdalen, ‘go, thou, and sin no more !’ who left 
for men a prayer to utter, which reads, ‘ forgive 
our trespasses,’ &c., to stand here, as I am obliged 
to to-day, crying for justice! simple justice! for 
one of God’s own children ! for a man who knows 
more than you, Melancthon Rayne ! one who was 
the love of his mother ; the pride of his father ; a 
beloved child, and a bright, young man, who led 
a fair wife to the altar, and came here among us, 
to live an honest life ; to raise a brood of his own. 

“Oh ! my God, Deacon, to know that you have 
been the instrument, in the hands of the spirit of 
evil, to know that, notwithstanding all your piety, 
your long prayers in behalf of the fallen, yon have 


BLUE RIBBONS* 


115 


tempted this man; allured him by the accursed 
product of your still from the path of rectitude ; 
made of him a slave to his cups ; a vagabond in 
society ; killed all the buds of hope upon the vine 
of his wife’s love ; left them to starve and die, and 
now the perfect ruin is well nigh accomplished, 
and the wife is obliged to flee for her life! leaving 
her husband to awake from his terrible delirium, 
to a breadless pantry! and a desolate fire-place! 
with no money to buy food! no wood to burn! and 
worse, no friends to raise him up in this hour of 
desolation! This is the picture you have drawn ; 
aye, it is written with blood and a woman’ tears ; 
with physical blows, and lighted by the feeble 
flame of her palsied hope.” 

The listeners came nearer, tears stood in their 
eyes ; the Deacon felt as if the flames of hell 
were rising near, and he raised his voice to expos- 
tulate. 

“Keep still, Deacon, let me tell all; let me 
crown the picture I have drawn with the attitude 
of defiance you take to-day. Standing aloof, you 
sneer at my entreaty to save not only this man but 
you, from the eternal damnation you firmly be- 
lieve awaits the ungodly. 

“ It was I — yes, I, a poor man, the odd man in 
Hyde, who has no time to polish his boots and 


116 BLUE RIBBONS. 

walk over the prostrate forms of the fallen; I! 
who curse the cider and the winkum ; I! who am 
willing to bear your curses in return, forgetting 
not the words of Jesus : ‘ Blessed are ye when 
men shall revile you and persecute ydu falsely 
for my sake,’ I went to Simeon in his dark home, 
Carried food and made a fire, stayed all night 
with him and braved the menacing blue devils 
who were so near him through that night, fought 
a good fight and won the victory ; held his trem - 
bling hands, quieted his throbbing brain, and 
with the help of God, who doubtless gave Simeon’s 
own blessed mother as a guardian to watch with 
me over her boy, brought him again to himself. 
He appreciated it, and wonderingly said to me, 
‘ He whom I thought was my enemy is my best 
friend.’ More than this, he is desirous to stop 
drinking : I have walked home with him nightly, 
fearing lest you should tempt him when he passed 
your still ; and now, Deacon, what does all this 
mean ? You refuse to answer my plain question. 
Why % why ?” and his eyes flashing fire, blinded 
the bewildered Deacon ; “let me answer it myself. 
One hundred dollars of the amount due you is a 
whiskey bill! It was not enough to call an honest 
and hard working man into your still and offer 
him a draught of hell, but when the fire was 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


lit 


kindled — which you knew you could easily start 
— you offered to trust him, and filled a jug for 
him to carry home to his wife.” 

“Oh, Deacon ! God be merciful to you. I am 
only stating facts : day after day the road has been 
steadily travelled, you have counted the footsteps 
of his descent, tracked with blood and your own 
infamy, and now, now ! when the last day comes 
near, when nearly every rail is taken for fuel! 
when his wife lies sick and unable to do no 
work, and he, with his newly aroused sense of 
honor, duty 7 to his God, himself and his fellows, 
asks through me for the pitiable extension of the 
mortgage on his place, you sneeringly answer 
‘you’ll sell it if 1 want to buy.’ Great God! 
where are you ( are you forever steeped in the 
deathly, damning fluid you deal out to men V ’ 
and George paused, standing erect, and looking 
all he felt. 

His words were powerful — the picture vividly, 
awfully 7 real. The door behind him opened 
slowly, and Simeon himself entered. 

“ Mr. Bean, heaven bless you ! but ask not for 
me. I knew before you came, the cold heart you 
had to deal with, and I came back to tell y r ou not 
to try 7 . It will only hurt you, it cannot help me,” 
and he fell on his knees before his friend, bowed 


118 


BLtTB RIBBONS. 


his head to the floor, and cried aloud, “ God help 
me ! no man save this one ever will ; oh ! if I 
could pray.” 

Tears came into the blue eyes, then a hand was 
laid upon the form of the stricken Simeon, and 
up spoke one of the listeners, Abel Bent, “I’ll 
help you, Sim., don’t give up.” 

“Me too,” said Mr. Loomis, and going to- 
wards him, they stood with the tears coursing 
over their faces, choking when they would speak, 
until at last Mr. Loomis, known as the Squire, 
laid a hand on George’s shoulder and said : 

“George Bean, you have opened to our sight 
the real facts in our midst, and I thank you. I 
have never drank to intoxication, but I have some 
secret suffering which I may not reveal. I use 
my cider brandy only as a medicine, but even 
this will hardly give me comfort now. It is a 
fact; we are blind. I fear 1 must, if I live to be 
an old man, see the sorrow which lurks in the 
wine-cup. Let me be your friend and Simeon’s.” 

“Amen,” said George, in a voice tilled with 
emotion. 

“ I hain’t nothing to say for my own behavior, 
but as there is a God, a Heaven, I’ll be your 
friend, and never ask you to drink a drop again, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


119 


Sim.,” and Abel Bent laid liis hand on Simeon’s 
head, who, looking up, said : 

“ Say you’ll never drink any more.” 

“ I’ll try it, but I can’t swear — I daresn’t.” 

“ Oh ! you will gain help, Abel.” 

“So be it, Sim.,” and the prostrate form of 
Simeon raised to its full height, stood beside his 
friends, and riveting his eyes on the Deacon, said 
slowly : 

“ Deacon Rayne, may you never be dealt with 
as you are dealing with me, and may I fall dead 
if ever again I enter this old still,” and he turned 
from them all, saying as he passed through the 
door, “ I go to my work with the blessing of my 
new, true friends. ” 

The Deacon was paralyzed with wonder. It 
could have been borne easily had there been no 
others near, since the right of way would have 
been entirely usurped by the mean, low spirit 
which covered him so entirely ; but to be taken 
in this way, what on earth could he do % and as 
he thought perplexedly, the voice of the agitator 
was heard : 

“ What are you going to do, Deacon ? shall you 
foreclose ?” 

“No,’’ he growled. 

‘ ‘ So far, so good ; but how long time will you 
give him V’ 


120 


BLUE RIBBOkS. 

“As long as any decent man wants.” 

‘ ‘ Yery well, Squire Loomis is a man of property 
and decency also, let liim decide.” 

“Let him if he wants to; it’s a wonder you 
didn’t hire a dozen more to hear you.” 

“ Never mind that, the Lord brings help to his 
own. What do you say, Squire?” 

“Ten years is good time for a decent man; a 
rascal can turn quicker, and would need less.” 

George laughed. “ What do you say to that, 
Deacon ?” 

“Fix it up to suit yourselves* I don’t want 
such a h — 1 of a mess.” 

“ I am very much afraid you will swear — well, 
what is the amount ?” 

“Three hundred and fifty-nine dollars and 
twenty-three cents.” 

“ Exact figures, but you are going to throw off 
the interest, I hope.” 

“No, 1 ain’t,” snapped the Deacon, and Abel 
Bent came to the rescue. 

“ I’ll pay it myself ; I can do it well enough if 
I stop taking my daily dram.” 

“Bravo!” cried George. 

“1 will share the amount,” said Squire Loomis, 
putting his hand into his pocket. 

“You make an all-fired fuss ; I can throw it off; 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


121 

I s’pose. ” Ah ! he knew the bent of true policy 
after all. 

“ Good for you, Deacon. Now we'll make out 
a new note and forth came the irrepressible pen 
and ever ready inkstand. “I can write on a 
chair.” 

“ I’ll go up after Sim.,” said Abel. 

“ Go on,” said George, and proceeded to draw 
the note. 

Abel returned with Simeon, who signed the 
paper, standing outside the door, and Abel Bent 
and the Squire witnessed it. 

This completed the business of the morning, and 
as George took his hat to depart, he said : 

“I will now go over and tell Brother Perkins 
why I closed the school for a half day.” 

“ You needn’t tell your caper all over town ; I 
shouldn’t think you’d want everybody down on 
you.” 

“Never mind about me, I am willing to meet 
all necessary emergencies,” and with a look of 
unutterable contempt the philanthropist departed, 
leaving Abel and the Squire talking things over 
out of the Deacon’s hearing. 

“Ain’t you darn glad you waited,” said Abel. 

“I am,” replied the Squire, “God help us all ; 
there are too many victims in this section.” 

6 


CHAPTER VII. 


QUIRE Loomis was thoroughly awake to 
the goodness, of George Bean, and when he 
rehearsed to his family the scene at the 
still, he was loud in his praises. ' 

“I admire the man; he is not only filled with 
grand ideas, but has the power to face the enemy; 
to boldly stand his ground ; and, as he expresses 
it, fight single-handed, which requires no little 
courage, moving, as he does, in direct opposition 
to the masses, and only the most powerful con- 
victions, together with an undue share of wisdom, 
can urge such a course as the one he takes. 
Wife,” and his voice fell, a sort of sadness run- 
ning through his tones, as he finished the sen- 
tence, “I wish our Jed. could be under his care, 
morally and mentally. I would not value a five 
hundred dollar bill, to have had him heard the 
still sermon. The time, the place, the surround- 
ings, and all, rendered it the grandest of acting, 
and it was all real ; no sham in it ; he brought true 
tears ; I felt that Rayne needed choking ; he was 
nervous enough ; but his fiinty soul gave no re- 
sponse to the powerful picture drawn from the 



BLUE RIBBONS. 


123 


depths of human feeling, and it seemed to me the 
very stones must answer his appeal ; I wish you 
could have heard him ; yes, I would that all Hyde 
could have been crowded into that old still.” 

“ Could you get George to teach Jed., that is, if 
he is willing ? I think he loves to learn and, fig- 
ures, you know, he is especially fond of,” said 
good Mrs. Loomis, thoughtfully, as before her 
came the bright eyes of her only son; “he has 
been away to school, to be sure ; still, I think 
George Bean knows much more than Jed.” 

“I guess he does, wife, and when a good oppor- 
tunity offers, we will invite him over to supper, 
and have a talk with him about it : we must do it 
before Jed. comes back from his visit to the city.” 

“I hope he will not stay much longer,” said 
the mother, “ although he is nearly twenty-one. I 
feel afraid ; my heart cries out constantly, ‘ keep 
him from temptation.’ Jason, where do you think 
he got his taste for liquor ? he is all right every 
way but that.” 

“Oh! I cannot tell. We must go over to the 
school house, and hear the lecture on heads, next 
week. George says there is a lecturer coming, 
who can feel out the truth by the bumps on the 
heads.” 

“ Why, do you believe it ?” 


124 


SLUE BlBBONiS. 


“No; nor disbelieve it, as far as that is con- 
cerned ; we have no right to produce a belief 
about something which neither our eyes or brains 
have seen ; might as well try to make out we are 
Kamschatkians. I am not afraid to venture to 
look for myself, however ; we will go, and now 
about Simeon ; George cannot do alone ; he must 
be helped, and it seems to me, we can collect some 
money and necessaries, and go down there. I 
guess George will make a better General than any 
one else ; but one thing is certain, Jude can carry 
• over a load of wood, and a few provisions to en- 
courage the poor fellow. I really expect him to 
keep sober, and if you feel like it, wife, I will 
carry you over to Mrs. Chubbuck’s, and you can 
have a talk with her; you women can fix up some 
things ; get some carpeting, or bedding, or some- 
thing they need.” 

“Belinda had a beautiful striped carpet on her 
best room, three years ago, when we called there, 
and you know the best of us rarely have more 
than two carpets at most.” 

“Thei’e is not a carpet or a rug in the house, 
and hardly chairs, except in the little front room ; 
that looks lonely enough. I have looked in at every 
window purposely.” 

“Well, well; I should think we were heathen 


BLUE RIBBOKS. 


125 


instead of settlers in a civilized country. I will 
go over to Charity’s any time.” 

“Suppose we go after supper then ?” 

“Very well,” and motherly Mrs. Loomis, sat 
sewing up a long seam in a pair of pants she was 
making for her husband, while he went after Jude 
to give his orders. Another star on George Bean’s 
banner ; one whose lustre would not grow dim 
with time. Squire Loomis and his wife were fore- 
handed people, as the saying was, but among the 
best, morally ; and the intellectuality of the Squire 
was acknowledged; he was looked up to by them 
all, and by his side, always, walked Eli Perkins ; 
also, John Holbrook who, like Mr. Loomis, was 
dubbed Squire, and when public offenders were 
committed in Hyde, they were tried before either 
Squire Loomis, <?r Squire Holbrook. Hyde was 
a town which covered a large area, and looked, 
from the top of West Mountain range, like a 
long-limbed youth, stretched awkwardly at the 
feet of the mother mountains, with head at the foot 
of North mountain, and feet under the eye of the 
West. Two large districts lay composedly, through 
the long years, and the one which claimed George’s 
school, was under the special care of Squire Loomis, 
and George expressed true valuation of his friend- 


126 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


liness and influence, when he rehearsed to the peo- 
ple at “ Apple Rest,” the affair at the still. 

“We are in town! the truth has found noble 
defenders, and now the discomforted Deacon can 
foam and froth and swear ; we’re in town ! the 
Lord be praised ! hurrah ! three cheers for Sim- 
eon ! and three for Loomis and Bent!” “And 
three for you !’’ added Yiolet, whose eyes dilated 
with excitement and pleasure. “Oh! I am so 
glad,” and George went in to re-assure Belinda. 

‘ ‘ Salvation is sure, my dear sister ; look up, 
and be glad ; the desolation of Rachel shall give 
place to the smiles of the anointed,” and, in his 
own expressive way, he looked upon the patient 
face of the woman whose heart was feeling the 
rustling of wings, and daring to believe the dove 
of hope was really to nestle in her heart again. 

“Oh ! how good you are, Mr. Bean ; what shall 
we ever do to repay you ? poor Simeon ; he will 
be saved ; oh ! I cannot tell you how thankful I 
am.” 

“Nevermind, sister; the only way you must 
try to pay me, is to do just so for somebody else, 
who may chance to come in your path ; that is the 
proper way for everybody to do.” 

“I will do it, you may be sure,” and at that 
moment footsteps were heard upon the veranda. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


127 


u The old cat and all her kittens !” said George ; 
“here comes my celestial friends; my loyal 
Brother Loomis and his wife.” 

“ That is a new title,” and Mrs. Loomis laughed 
as she entered, and in her good motherly way, 
brought a “ slice of sunshine,” as Violet said, 
which was not a bad expression, for the warmth 
of feeling she carried, was something which filled 
those with whom she came in contact, and the re- 
sponsive activities of brain and stomach, bring to 
us, naturally, a realization of physical comfort, 
with mental pleasure. 

Knowing the way, they hadn’t paused to knock 
at the door, and entered the sitting room where 
Belinda sat, surprising not only her, but them- 
selves. 

“Why, are you here?” said Mrs. Loomis. 

“You keep still,” and Charity Chubbuck 
raised a finger of warning. “Nobody knows 
she’s here? and if George hadn’t been so crazy 
over his fracas up to the still, you wouldn’ t. He’ s 
turned the key in that door about five hundred 
times in the last ten minutes, and that’s how you 
come to get in.” 

“ Why, you must regard us as friends,” said 
the Squire; “we certainly should not divulge 
your secret.” 


128 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ I don’t ’sposeyou would, but I’ve alius made 
it a principle, to keep my secrets myself, and not 
hire anybody to help me. Its the easiest and the 
safest way, no matter who’ tis that’ s’ round ; that’s 
blunt enough for even Rayne to understand ; but 
never mind, now you know it all ; we’ll just set 
here and talk. George, do set down ; you’re turn- 
ing that key again ; good land ! I’m all in a flus- 
ter now.” 

“I guess I’ll go and get my celestial work and 
sit in the corner.” 

Violet laughed aloud, and Mrs. Loomis smiled 
inquiringly. 

“He’s a studying planets and things; that’s 
what he calls celestial work.” 

“ Yes,” said Violet ; “he astonishes us with his 
wonderful statements which, of course, are infalli- 
bly correct, and Loomis’ Astronomy is his bible 
just now.” 

“Ah! that is where my new title arises,” said 
the Squire, and George entered with a large Atlas 
and three books, and seated himself on a long, 
low stool in a corner of the room. In a few 
moments he was, to all appearance, completely 
absorbed in his search for stars, and between Mrs. 
Chubbuck and her visitors, arose a conversation. 

“Old Rayne got a good dose, didn’t he ? I de- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


129 


clare, I hain’t been so glad over anything in ten 
years ; how lucky, too, for you and Abel to hap- 
pened there. If George had been alone he’d had 
a time of it.” 

“Yes,” said the Squire, “I felt at first a little 
curious, but as George warmed with the subject, 
and the picture he drew became a thing of life, I 
felt like rolling up my sleeves to fight, if neces- 
sary. I never heard so grand a sermon, and poor 
Deaon had to drag his feathers in the dust ; but 
never mind, Simeon will be all right,” and he 
looked hopefully toward Belinda, whose eyes were 
filled with tears, and Mrs. Chubbuck took one of 
her hands, chafing it gently, she said : 

“ B’lindy’s tuckered out ; but she’s gaining now 
a little every day.” 

“Take courage,” softly spoke Mrs. Loomis; 
“ we shall not let you or your husband want ; my 
husband has sent a load of cord wood, and some 
provisions to him to-day ; we have more hams 
than we can possibly use ourselves, and plenty of 
vegetables. I put in some parsnips with the rest ; 
does he like them 

Her head bowed in answer, as thick and fast the 
sobs came, and over her cheeks ran tears. 

“Do not feel so badly, Belinda ; you will never 
get strong enough to do your own cooking, if you 
shed so many tears.” 


130 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ I cannot help it ; they are more for joy than 
sorrow, and I think, too, about some one’s cook- 
ing for Simeon. He is all alone, you know, and 
he needs me now. I cannot wait much longer.’’ 

“You won’t have to, B’lindy. I told you so 
this morning,” and Mrs. Chubbuck crowded back 
the sympathetic drops which rose to her own eyes 
and, with a face of perfect composure, whose lines 
were a revelation of her character, she turned the 
conversation. 

“Be you a-goin’ over to hear the bump 
preacher V ’ 

George screamed aloud. “ Sister Chubbuck ! 
you mean to say a professor of phrenology, the 
master of a phrenological science, which is no 
more or less than a revelation regarding the 
capacity and activity of man’s brain, enabling us 
to hold in our hand, as it were, the framework of 
the mind.” 

“ There, you study your celestial thing and let 
me alone ; you said he felt his way over the 
bumps, and if he does he’s a bump preacher. I 
don’t care how much he knows about framework 
or brains, I want to hear him talk ; I ain’ t afraid ; 
be you, Squire?” 

‘ ‘ I should not think there was cause for fear. 
We know that we are ignorant, and the best of 


BLUE RIBBONS# 


131 


us know very little, in comparison with what 
there is waiting for us to understand.” 

“We are fools,” uttered George. 

“I s’ pose we are ; I thought George had gone 
crazy the other day when he said there was a 
planet thirteen times bigger than this earth of 
ours, and I can’t feel the understanding of any of 
these things he says about stars.” 

“ Nevertheless, Saturn exists, and her circum- 
ference is amply attested.” 

“ There you be again with your long words, I 
shall have to give up, that seein’ is believin’, and 
take things for truth that 1 know as little about 
as I do about the Israelites.” 

The condition of things was not propitious, so 
far as the errand of the Loomis’s were concerned, 
and with a woman’s tact, Mrs. Loomis asked lib- 
erty to go into the kitchen and warm her feet in 
the stove oven, albeit the ample fire-place radiated 
its living warmth, and the stones of the broad 
hearth were solidly hot. When out of hearing 
she said : 

“ I want to talk with you concerning Belinda 
and Simeon ; Mr. Loomis is going to collect some 
money for them He has drawn up a paper and 
headed the list with $25.00 ; Eli Perkins will give 


132 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


as much more, and I should not wonder if he 
raised enough to nearly lift the mortgage.” 

“Good land of liberty! ain’t that good! but 
see here ; don’t tell George, for you know his 
pay is just nothing, and he gives every cent he 
can spare to his mother. If he should see that 
paper he’d sell the shirt off his back to put some- 
thing down, and I think he’s done enough.” 

“I should say so ; I’ll tell Mr. Loomis what 
you say, but now I want to get some linen and 
flannel, and a blanket or two, and some dishes, 
and whatever they need in the house, and I 
thought you could advise me how to do it, I can 
give them some things out of my pantry as well 
as not, and I have a nice wool-filled bed covering, 
and an extra large plaided blanket, with ten 
yards of flannel, and twice ten of linen, and ” 

“Don’t say any more; I should think you’d 
stocked ’em up without any help from any of the 
rest of us. What can any body do when you 
get through ? There might be a corner left for a 
tailor’s goose.” 

Mrs. Loomis smiled. “ Oh ! they need so much ; 
a carpet and some rugs, and very likely some 
pots and kettles ; there is no end to the little 
things, you know.” 

“ That’s true ; Mr. Chubbuck used to say that 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


133 


©t cetery meant a monstrous deal, and took up 
lots of room in the world, besides costing a great 
deal ; but I can give ’em a carpet as well as not, 
and never know it, and as for rugs, I’ll set the 
girls to cuttin’ and stringin’ rags, and when 
sewin’ meetin’ day comes I’ll go over and touch 
up the women a little, I ain’t been in so long 
they’ll know something’s up, and if they don’t 
suspect it I’ll tell ’em I come on purpose to start 
up sympathy. There’s some good ones among 
us, and some that’s just like empty cider barrels 
that are hooped and look well with good hard 
wood spiggots, that you can turn through all 
eternity, and never get a drop. Human sympa- 
thy gets lost in the woods sometimes.” 

“Hoot, toot, toot, wheel” sang out on the 
air. 

“ What’s that ?” and Mrs. Loomis jumped from 
her chair. 

“Hoot, toot, toot, wheel” and the voice came 
nearer. 

“You needn’t be scairt ; hain’t you heard our 
foolish Eben holler ; he alius blows his own 
whistle to let us know he’s cornin’. Poor boy ! 
that swimming notion he had was a sorry one for 
him, but he’s clever and harmless.” 


134 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ Hoot, toot, toot!” and the kitchen door 
opened. 

A tall, angularly developed figure, in a muffler 
and great coat, with long boots, into which his 
pants were securely tucked, a brown fur cap 
drawn over his face and ears, left only room for 
the broad smile which beamed from the face of 
the idiot, as he stood bowing and scraping to the 
two women. Mrs. Chubbuck accosted him with, 

“ Take a chair, Eben ; how’s your folks ? ” 

“ Ma’s pooty well ; pa’s pooty well ; anybody 
been ’round to-day ?” 

‘ ‘ ’ Round where V ’ * 

. “ Been ’round ; Eben’s pooty well, got wood to 
cut ; cow to milk,” and he grinned foolishly. 

“ He’s got some -news,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, 
under her breath; “something’s wrong some- 
where.” 

“Tell us something, Eben; you’ve got a 
secret.” 

“Hoot, toot, toot, wheel” under his breath, 
and off went cap and mittens. 

“That’s it; now you’re goin’ to tell it, ain’t 
you ?” 

He looked about him as if there was something 
lacking. 

“ You want a doughnut, don’t you V’ 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


135 

“ Eben like doughnuts, Eben like gals.” 

“ Well, I’ll get you a doughnut, but you must 
tell me the story, will you?” and she looked 
sharply at him, and turned to the pantry. 

u Eben’ll tell,” and he bowed his head, waited 
as anxiously as a child for the doughnut, which 
he grasped eagerly. 

“ Take one bite, and then tell.” 

That bite was a large one, still he obeyed the 
command, and before it was fairly out of his 
throat commenced calling : 

“ John down to still — old Rayne — old Rayne — 
hoot, toot, toot, wheel” and he jumped so high 
his head touched the wall, and lie fell into his chair, 
fixing his dead, fishy eyes on the ceiling, as if in 
wonder at the blow. 

“ Something is wrong at the still,” and George 
looked in the direction of his hat. 

•“ Here, Eben ; here’s a cent,” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck, “ now tell ; is John hurt ?” 

“ Didn’t hit him, didn’t hit him, and his feet 
came up, he lost his poise and tumbled heels over 
head onto the floor.” 

“Eben, what ails you?” sternly said Mrs. 
Chubbuck, “ tell us what you mean.” 

The idiot felt the power of her eye, and said 
slowly, and with apparent effort to tell the truth : 


136 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


‘ ‘ J ohn ain’ t hit ; Rayne can' t, Rayne can’ t ” 

(Long pause.) 

“Go on, Eben. Can’t what?” 

“ No ; not can’t what — can't get up.” 

“ The Deacon is hurt, is thatit?” asked George. 

“Um,” and Eben nodded. “ Dm, broke foot.” 

“I shall go over then.” 

“Me go, me go ; Eben go to get the Squire; 
hurry up, hurry up.” 

“There now, he’s told it ; good land ! anybody 
might die forty times over. They sent him here 
after Squire Loomis.” 

“I will go right along,” said Mr. Loomis, but- 
toning up his coat ; ‘ ‘ come George, come Eben, 
we may want to send you after a doctor, you’re 
such a hand to despatch business. ” 

“I guesg it’s a judgment on the old hypocrite ; 
George is most a fool to go right over and help 
him, after gettin’ such a dressin’ down. He’s 
past all believin’, I don’t think anybody will ever 
understand him exactly. Well, now, we’ll finish 
our little plan about B’lindy, and then I’ll get 
tea.” 

“ Not for me, Mrs. Chubbuck.” 

“No, but for all of us. They’ll have to stay 
till midnight, perhaps. Poor Mrs. Rayne ! if he 
hain’t broke his neck she’ll have a hard time. If 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


137 


he has the funeral can’t last long ; and as for 
mournin’, I believe if the poor soul was left to 
herself she’d feel as glad as a slave to get out into 
freedom.” 

The Deacon was in great need of help. His 
groans were audible before they reached the still. 
“Oh, Lord! oh, Lord!” he cried, “help! help!” 
John, the still boy, was frantic, nearly, walking 
to and fro, waiting for some one to appear, and 
when he heard the sleigh he ran with delight to 
the door. 

“Oh ! come in, come in, the Deacon’s broke 
his leg, and I can’t move him an inch. He 
wouldn’t let me leave, he felt so ’fraid to stay 
alone. I thought nobody’d ever come.” 

v “ Which leg is it ?” said George, going near the 
right one. 

“Oh! it’s broke, it’ll have to be cut olf ; oh, 
Lord! oh, Lord!” 

“I hardly think it is broken ; let us see,” said 
George, and stooping at his feet, he said to the 
Squire : 

‘ ‘ Hold your hand against his hip, right where 
the joint lies, press in evenly and gently now,” 
and taking the foot in both his hands he elevated 
the limb a little, and drew it quickly out ; a sort 
of a snap at the hip joint, a loud cry from the 


138 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Deacon, and George said quietly, that is right, 
your hip was dislocated.” 

A grim smile crept over the Deacon’s face ; he 
was tired and weakened by the terrible pain, and 
he knew who it was that had done so great a 
kindness. Hours must have elapsed ere a doctor 
could have been summoned. 

“Move your toes, Deacon he moved them. 

“ Now draw up the leg a little. Ah ! that is it, 
you are all right ; and now we must take you 
bodily -to the sleigh, carry you home, and get a 
strong wormwood bath for the hip. You are not 
heavy; the Squire and I can take you right along 
by making a lady chair, as the children say. 
First we must raise you up, Deacon, and let you 
stand on one leg. Hold on to John here, who 
will sit on this stool, and then you can sit down 
on our hands, and put your arms about our 
necks : there, don’t worry, Deacon, you will soon 
get over this,” and the raising up and seating of 
the Deacon was accomplished. They put him 
into the sleigh easily, took him to his home, and 
George insisted on helping to fix him in bed, and 
cover his hips with wormwood and cider brandy, 
before he was willing to go home. 

“You go on Squire, if you feel in a hurry,” 
said the philosopher. 


BLUE EIBBOXS. 


139 


“No, no, I will wait for you,” and when Mrs. 
Chubbuck’s tea was fairly ready, they entered, 
and took seats at the table. 

George could hardly eat, so filled was he with 
pleasure at his last transaction. “ I tell you,” 
he said, “it was rich, to be able to go there and 
haul the Deacon’s leg into place ; and when I left 
him I whispered in his ear, ‘use all the cider 
brandy you want to, Deacon, upon the outside.’ 
The triumph is complete ; exactly finished.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


« 00K out for that milk, George,” cried 
Mrs. Chubbuck, as he came swinging the 
well filled pail, and repeating, in tones of 
exultation, 

“The solstice of Winter is past, and north- 
ward shall travel the sun, whose eliminated heat 
warm into life the verdant covering of earth. 
Ah! the wisdom of nature and he crossed the 
door sill. 

“Give me that pail, George; where on earth 
are you going? the milk belongs in the buttery; 
you’re steerin’ for the sittin’ room; where’s your 
overalls ?” 

“There is your milk, my dear sister; I will de- 
posit it safely in the appropriate place.” 

“ Well, where’s your overalls? I’ll bet you’ve 
lost ’em.” 

“There is the milk,” and he turned to go 
through the kitchen. 

“Here, wait a minute; you’ve spilt a quart of 
it on your pantaloons, and it’s jest as bad as 
grease. ’Taint nothing else.” 

“It is the mother of an oliagenous compound, 


iiLUE RIBBONS. 


141 


certainly; but never mind the browsers, if I have 
spilled a sufficient quantity to make a sort of oily 
covering, it will be of service in helping them to 
last.” 

“I should think so; you’re as bad as a five- 
year old about getting your clothes dirty; don’t 
you know the dust’ll settle into this grease, and 
make long dingy streaks the whole length of the 
1 eg ? W here’ s the overal Is?” 

“I cannot say.” 

“I’ll bet you’ve lost track of ’em; where did 
you have ’em last?” 

“Out in the yard, milking, and doing chores.” 

“ Well, then, where be they.” 

“Sister Chubbuck, the overalls are defunct; 
they are no more forever.” 

“AVhat have you done with ’em; used ’em to 
wad your telescope with, or what?” 

“I did not do anything with them; but for 
your relief, I shall have to confess,” and he drew 
a long breath. 

“ Let me see; I believe it was about two weeks 
ago, after I had finished the barn chores, I was 
searching the heavens, with a view to observing a 
conjunction of stars, and I sat upon the fence which 
encircles the pen where the pigs reside, and by a 
mysterious lurch I fell backward into the stye. 


142 


BLUE RIBBOKS. 


I gathered myself up as quick as I conveniently 
could; and perceiving that the over-rigging was 
pretty well soiled, I shuffled it off and scrambled 
out; renewing my celestial search, forgot to ex- 
tract the overalls. It occurred to me about a 
week ago, but I saw no vestige of cloth, and sup- 
pose the swine have used them up for bedding.” 

“Why didn’t you tell of it before; I could 
have made another pair.” 

“Oh! I thought it was a matter of minor im- 
portance.” 

“ I should think it w r as a matter of decency to 
keep your clothes clean, if you can. Just as if 
you couldn’t find any place but a pig pen to 
roost on, aud stare the stars out of countenance.” 

“Ah! my dear sister, you forget that I am run 
in a different mold from yourself. I’m out of the 
old rut, and gathering new facts daily.” 

“ Well, I don’t forget that I want you to look 
decent to go to hear the bumps preached on to- 
night.” 

Deacon Rayne’s hurt did not prove serious, and 
upon the evening of the phrenological lecture, 
was on hand early, notwithstanding his declara- 
tion that the man must be an impostor. 

“He says he’ll prove everything he says, and 
we’ll give him a chance, that’s what we will.” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


143 


Mrs. Rayne went with her husband, for a won- 
der, and sat between sweet Yiolet and Mrs. Chub- 
buck. 

Professor Rathbun was the guest of Mrs. 
Chubbuck and George, and entered with the 
latter, who gallantly accorded him his place on 
the little platform, moving the school-desk out of 
his way, and offering him one of the two chairs, 
took the other himself ; and when the audience 
had fairly assembled, introduced him. 

u Brothers and sisters, allow me to introduce 
to your notice our worthy friend, Professor Rath- 
bun, who has relinquished pecuniary emolument, 
as well as a position as College Professor, in or- 
der to travel about and enlighten people regarding 
themselves; and we all know that the problem of 
our physical and mental requirements, individu- 
ally, is the hardest to solve, and the most neces- 
sary to be mastered — ‘Man know thyself’ — and 
Professor Rathbun proposes to teach us how to 
do it” 

Unrolling the large chart, with which he pro- 
posed to illustrate his lecture, the Professor ac- 
knowledged the introduction in a gracefully dig- 
nified manner, and proceeded to explain the organ- 
ic construction of the brain. 

A few of his auditors were able to understand 


144 


BLtjE RIBBONS. 


his well-chosen and expressive language, and 
were thoroughly interested; while the majority 
seemed fully persuaded that there must be some- 
thing funny connected with it; and the fact of 
their preconception served to render them oblivi- 
ous to whatever w T as fitted to their perception, 
and taking no pains to perceive, they saw noth- 
ing, and sat restless, as well as listless, during the 
lecture. 

When a perfect delineation of the chart had 
been submitted to them, Prof. Rathbun proposed 
to practically illustrate the truth of his remarks 
by examining the heads of persons in the audience. 

Let us test the science, of which we have been 
treating, by applying it to individuals. If it is as 
I have said, the heads of those present are certainly 
not exceptions to the rule which is found in the 
book of nature. An old and lasting standard ; 
applicable to men through all time. We must re- 
member that while this appears to you as some- 
thing entirely new, it is, nevertheless, an old and 
well attested truth, and to Franz Joseph Gall, a 
German physician of the last century, we are in- 
debted for the present conception of it. He has 
left to us a legacy of knowledge, which gives us 
the key to the souls of men, and craniology will 
help us to avoid mistakes, while we read those 


BLUE KIBBOXS. 


145 


whom we meet, truly, and dispense no harsh judg- 
ment, as before. 

“ Select some person whom you all know, for ex- 
amination, and before we proceed further let me 
ask you to bear in mind, that I shall speak hon- 
estly regarding each person ; plain unvarnished 
truth is what we seek, and if I should find, as I 
generally do, peculiar traits of character, of which 
to speak, you are not expected to regard them as 
animadversions, since I am only an instrument, in 
the hands of science, a tube which the voice of a 
newly awakened truth penetrates. Let some gen- 
tleman or lady volunteer, or a selection be made 
by the audience.” 

George noted, with anxiety, the real condition 
of the audience ; they were not travelling in the 
right road, and he feared the result, and was 
nettled to realize that the palpability of the lecture 
had been lost, and the words gone over the heads 
of the people, instead of falling into their hearts, 
as they ought. He had watched their faces nar- 
rowly, and could count only six, out of more than 
a hundred, of whom he felt sure. 

No one volunteered, and a sort of suppressed 
snicker ran through the house. 

“Let some one be named,” said the speaker; 
“ one who is well known ; give me a man whom you 

7 


146 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


all understand.” “Deacon Rayne,” shouted a 
voice from the farthest corner ; “Deacon Rayne,” 
said another; “Squire Loomis,” said another; 
“No, no; Deacon Rayne,” and becoming em- 
boldened a half dozen calls were made. 

“Quietly, quietly,” said the Professor ; “ I will 
call the first gentleman named if he is willing.” 

Up started the Deacon, saying, in a low tone, 
but audible to those nearest to him, “ I guess he 
knows a sight about me.” 

The long fingers of Professor Rathbun were 
moving cautiously over the head of the Deacon, 
whom he had offered a chair, and the ridiculousness 
of expression on the face of the subject, was ma- 
terial to keep alive the flame of their mirth. 

“ This man has a peculiar cranial development. 
We will begin here at the points of the eye to ex- 
plain. First : he has little language ; cannot find 
modes of expression readily, and if a little con- 
fused or excited, would be apt to ejaculate or 
stutter almost, saying, well, well, or perhaps vent- 
ing an individual phrase, while trying to collect 
words.” 

A look of surprise on the faces of the audience ; 
an enlarged grin on the Deacon’ s face. 

“ Inhabitiveness is largely developed. This 
man, I will venture to say, lives in the house his 


BLUE RIBBONS. 14? 

grandfather built ; no other place would suit him 
as well. ” Laughter among the audience ; “ Right !” 
shouted a voice ; George nodded an approval. 

4 4 Alimentiveness is large ; he likes good food, 
and the best way to gain a favor from him is to 
ask on a full stomach. 

44 Constructiveness exceeding small, never will 
invent anything, and if he makes even a wood 
sled must borrow the plan. ” 

The Deacon knitted his brows ; the audience 
laughing an approval. 4 4 He has large combative' 
ness and little veneration, which is a dangerous 
fact ; but when I touch the locality of caution 
and see it largely developed, I come to the con- 
clusion, that outside of his own home this man is 
not to be feared. He will swear if excited.” 

44 He’s a Deacon,” shouted a voice, 44 Deacons 
don’t swear.” 

44 Cannot help it,” said the Professor, smil- 
ingly; 44 a man with small veneration and large 
combativeness must swear ; he cannot help it if 
he tries, under certain circumstances ; but he will 
not use his fists, because his caution comes to 
warn him of the possibility of getting whipped.” 

(Loud laughter and clapping of hands.) 

44 Philoprogenitiveness is exceedingly small; 
he does not love children, and ” 


148 


BLttE RIBBONS. 


“ There !” said the Deacon, starting, his face 
crimson with anger, and shaking his fist at the Pro- 
fessor ; “I guess you think I’m a blasted fool, 
you infernal liar, to set here and be made a — a — 
well, you’ve got through with me, and you’d bet- 
ter go home.” 

“ My dear sir, I leave it with the audience 
whether I have told the truth or not. You should 
wait till I get through ; I have hardly begun.” 

“H’m,” growled the Deacon, walking rapidly 
toward the door, beckoning to his wife as lie passed 
her. She rose obediently, and walked meekly 
out. Professor Rathbun looked after them, and 
as the door closed, remarked to the audience : 

“ The man could not bear the truth. Give me 
another ; let’s have a lady this time.” 

Squire Loomis rose, and named ‘ Aunt Patty 
Bean,’ who consented, and came forward. 

“ Ah ! here we have a grandly developed head, 
one who is original in all ways, and needs more 
room to turn round in than you can give her in 
this century and town. 

“She is a sweet singer, having a perfect develop- 
ment of time and tune ; also a good spinner, pos- 
sessing much mechanical ingenuity. Love of 
home and children is strongly developed, and 
does not hinder her being a practical thinker. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


149 


“ She will eat to live, instead of living to eat, her 
alimentiveness being little developed. 

“ I fear this woman is not in her proper place, 
for she is fitted for a position which demands 
integrity of purpose, and activity of intellectual 
power. She is a noble specimen of a superior 
woman, and her patience and long suffering will 
be of great use to her, since it nearly always 
occurs in this world of ours, that ‘ Those who will 
do, may , ’ as the old saying runs ; and also, those 
who can bear, must. 

“ Her combativeness is not largely developed, 
and.she would resist, to some degree, unwarranted 
efforts against her right to believe and act as she 
deemed best, and if her husband or children 
should suffer would do battle in their behalf. 
People do not suffer from a development of com- 
bativeness, so long as it is balanced or its effect 
neutralized, as it were, by other brain posses- 
sions. When a person has both destructiveness 
and combativeness, then there is trouble, especially 
if caution be small. 

“ This woman cannot find many about her who 
will see things as clearly as she does. The moral 
faculties are all uniformly developed, and her 
soul has a strong and pure foundation for eternal 
thought. 


150 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ It may be that the conditions of this mundane 
existence will fetter her, as it were, and the wings 
of her thought will not be plumed for the flight 
she longs to take ; but friends, when you are in 
trouble, you will find not only a sympathetic 
friend, but a wise counsellor ; one who is far 
sighted, with clear business perceptions. She 
is too generous to accumulate wealth if she has 
opportunity. 

“A great contrast between these two people; 
and while an entire evening devoted to this sub- 
ject would do her only partial justice, I must give 
you an opportunity for bringing some one else 
before me.” 

“ Loomis, young Loomis,” was called, and after 
a little, consented. 

“Here is another good specimen of brain- 
work. 

“ The functions of this brain are remarkable for 
their activity. Not a duty is avoided naturally, 
and you ought to make your mark in the world, 
young man. 

“You are conscientious, remarkably so; you 
will never do others injury, unless it is by ignor- 
antly damaging yourself. 

“You are not secretive, hardly enough so for 
your own good ; outspoken and upright. The 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


151 


organ of destructiveness is large, and that of 
combativeness also ; you have, however, the hand 
of veneration to delay dangerous acts, and you 
would not ‘be apt to get into trouble by physical 
combat. 

“ If you should see a large youth ill-treating a 
small boy, you would be apt to chastise the fel- 
low smartly ; but this would be a sense of justice 
led by impulse, with which you are tilled. 

6 4 You are quick to perceive, ardent in your 
affections; would have great love for home and 
friends, and work untiringly through years to 
obtain comforts for others. 

“ You are a mathematician and grammarian and 
concentrator ; number, order and language being 
uniformly established. 

“It should not be long ere you selected your 
course, or rather, turned your attention to the 
course which your naturally active brain indicates 
most plainly. 

“ The organ of wit is well developed ; also that 
of comparison. If you choose to be a lawyer you 
will attain prominence and popularity.” 

Then passing his hands slowly over the entire 
head, he added : 

“ One thing I must say to you ; you are over 
fond of nice food. Your palate is one which has 


152 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


a decidedly positive life, and if, as I should 
judge, you may have a taste for cider, let it 
alone. Think not it is harmless, for with all 
your strong will and evenly developed brain, 
your active conscience, the deference you pay to 
the rights of your fellows, you will nevertheless 
be a high liver if you have an opportunity. 

“ Beware of the wine cup, and follow tlie line of 
promise which lies straight before you.” 

Tears gathered in the eyes of the noble looking 
son of Squire Loomis, as rising to go to the seat, 
he said : 

“You are a wonder ; ask the audience if you 
have told the truth about me, I think you have 
hit it pretty nearly right.” 

“ Inasmuch as the hour is growing late, we will 
take the vote of the audience as to the verity of 
of the examination, and adjourn,” and he turned 
to George, who rising, put the vote, and not a 
single nay was heard amid the united voices of 
of the assembly, since the practical proof had 
caused a surprise which the least among them 
must allow. 

George passed the hat, and Professor Rathbun 
left the school house with pleasanter feelings than 
he had anticipated. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


153 


“I think we made a success,” he said, as he 
walked homeward with the family group. 

“Time will prove the truth or falsity of your 
impressions. Only the precious few really felt 
the force of your lecture. The majority carried 
their foolish nothingness with them, and expected 
nothing but sport. In other words, they went 
there with their eyes and ears shut, so far as the 
truth was concerned. I tell you, Professor, the 
soil is farrow in this region,” said George. 

“That is a unique expression.” 

“ It is a good one. The hearts of the people 
are anything but tender and productive, so far as 
real truth and the great importance of it is con- 
cerned.” 


CHAPTER IX. 


E tribes of Adam join!” louder and 
louder George sang, the morning after 
the lecture, ringing the changes of the 
old hymn with his powerfully strong voice. Yiolet 
and Milly were convulsed with laughter. Prof. 
Rathbun laid down the treatise on mentality which 
he was perusing, and Mrs. Chubbuck stepped 
hurriedly about, picking up generally, and ar- 
ranging the work of the day. 

The morning chores were linished, and oblivi- 
ous to all about him,, the zealous Philanthropist 
approached the door with long strides, emphasiz- 
ing every step with a word of the hymn. 

“George,” said his watchful friend, “don’t 
you know you’ll scare the lecturer to death ; he 
ain’t used to such noises.” 

“ What is the matter with you, my dear sister? 
Paul commands us to be instant in and out of 
season.” 

“He never told you to scare everybody to death 
screaming out the tribes of Adam, as if you were 
jnad.” 

“It is the tribes of Adam we want; truth is 



BLUE RIBBONS. 


155 


crucified daily, we need to join in songs that shall 
awaken us; we need to be so charmed with the 
living truth, as never to have a desire for error, 
however alluring it may seem, we should seek no 
longer to roll delusions as a sweet morsel under 
our tongue.” 

“George, you needn’t stop to preach a sermon 
now, you’ve got to go over to the school-house, 
and take the lecturer to Squire Loomis’, ain’t 
you?” 

“The old cat and all her kittens! I came near 
forgetting it; your supervision is my salvation.” 

“Whoa!” sounded a voice near. 

“Who on earth is that?” said Mrs. Chubbuck, 
and together they went toward the door. 

A span of horses, with a long lumber-box, can- 
vas covered wagon, containing several people, 
stood at the gate, and as the door opened a 
medium-sized woman sprang to the ground, and, 
entering the yard, walked quickly forward. Ad- 
dressing Mrs. Chubbuck, she asked: “ What kind 
of a place do ye call this to live in?” 

Mrs. Chubbuck was taken aback; and while 
she waited to think of an appropriate reply, 
George spoke up positively. 

“It is a good place for Christians to settle in; 
we have a good share of sinners already,” 


156 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ Aye,” cried the stranger; “I thowt as much; 
we’se come to settle in the woods; can ye tell us 
who has wood-land to sell; that’s near the village, 
if there’s any village to it; we has seen not a store 
so far, and could you please gie us a bit o’ bread 
an a sup o’ tea; there’s myself, three gells and 
brawny John; the auld man of us all.” 

“ Your husband?” inquired George. 

“Mi own good man, John; let us come in, 
good folks; we’se got plenty to pay; we’se no 
stealers; neither beggin’ a bite, for we mean to 
settle among ye, and build us a bit o’ a place 
while time.” 

“Oh! come right in, ” said George, and, turning 
to the rest of the party, the stranger cried, 

“Come on gells, come on John;” and while 
good dame Charity was wondering if there was 
enough in the larder to make an ample meal, the 
quartette in the wagon were making their way 
toward the door. 

“Come right in,” said the mother and wife; 
“these is good folks; never miud about much 
victuals, good woman, it’s only a bite we need, a 
bit o’ bread and cheese; and perhaps you’se a 
little cold codfish;” and she began taking off her 
things as if among old friends, and walking up to 
the Professor, said good humoredly, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


157 


“ You’se not used to seem’ a tribe fra the West, 
ye look at me strange, but ye can read folks 
pretty good; look in our faces and see if we’se 
browt evil wi’ us. Take off your things mi lasses; 
toss them into the corner, and not make trouble 
for the folks,” and out into the kitchen she few 
to warn Mrs. Chubbuck against making herself 
trouble. 

“Fret not, ye good soul, only a bite,” and 
seating herself with her limbs crossed, revealed 
stout shoes on her feet, and home knit hose cover- 
ing her limbs. Her appearance was one that 
startled the occupants of “Apple Rest,” and as 
Violet flitted hither and thither, assisting to pre- 
pare the meal, she felt herself wonderfully drawn 
to her, and could not appreciate Millie’s Avhisper, 
“she looks like a witch.” No, it sort of hurt 
her, and she replied positively, “Millie, you are 
wrong, her eyes are the clearest blue I ever saw; I 
love her already.” 

“You incomprehensible girl,” replied Millie. 

“I shall be forced to relinquish the pleasure of 
a confab with these new friends,” said George, 
“and go to my post. Duty beckons me to the 
little red school-house, although inclination would 
keep me here. Are you going with me Pro- 
fessor?” 


158 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ I believe I can find the way over to Mr. 
Loomis’ alone, and I would really like to stay 
here an hour or two longer,” was the reply. 

“Aye, do,” spoke up the stranger; “and look 
ye here George, mi dear, do ye teach school?” 

“I do,” said he stopping short, and looking 
surprised. 

“Well, see here,” and she approached him as 
if in great haste, “can ye get me some papers; 
we’se been long on our journey, and must read 
news o’ day. I’ll tell ye my lad, I’d like ye to 
make a bit o’ a call for us, or write a letther an’ 
tell the paper printers to send some for a year to 
John ’Ardy,” and lifting the skirt of her dress, 
she took from an under pocket a long leathern 
purse, and extracted a $5 gold piece. 

“Here, here is the money; five dollai’s worth 
o’ readin’; that’ll do to begin with, and if the gells 
wants books I’ll get all they say.” 

“Well,” said George, his face beaming with 
undisguised delight, “I guess I will not take the 
money this moment, for I can show you some 
specimens to-night, and you can select such as you 
choose. Duke County Journal is printed in the 
city twenty miles away, and is a good paper for 
news, as well as some common sense ; then there 
are others you may like as well.” 


BLUE HIBSONS. 


159 


“No, no, mi dear; take the money now, and 
then do the choosing when ye get ready. I likes 
readin’ matter aroun’; it shows us the world 
moves, and everything is a wheel wivin a wheel, 
ye see. I can never bear to be only a bit o’ a 
spoke, which is what I is wi’out a paper, for I 
know nout o’ anything, save miself an’ the rim 
o’ the wheel with which I turn. It is right for us 
all to know as much as we can and, see here, mi 
dear, I’d like the gells to go to school to you; 
who pays ; the folks, or the town ?” 

“ Oh ! the people generally submit to what they 
term a school tax.” 

“Then ye get betther pay in that way ? 

“I hardly know about that.” 

“ How much do they pay you? tell me if its no 
secret.” 

“Twelve dollars a month, and board about 
the town.” 

“ Does ye work for that willingly?” 

“Yes, I guess I do, though I would take more.” 

“So ye shall, ye honest soul ; little Janey and 
Nancy shall go, an’ I’ll gie ye a dollar a week 
miself.” 

“ Oh ! but, my good woman, you will be taxed 
with the rest.” 

“Who cares! I spends no money on foolish 


160 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


nonsense ; I wear no silks or satins ; look at mi ! 
cowhide boots, and I likes them well ; I ha’ money 
enough to pay what’s right, and a dollar a week 
you shall have,” and she spatted his shoulder, and 
turned to the waiting table, saying, “Now for a 
meal, which we shall take for our stomick sake ; go 
on to your school, George ; come, mi lasses ; come, 
John ’ Ardy,” and seated herself at the table, next 
Mrs. Chubbuck, who was to wait on them to 
the bread, cold meat, &c., while Violet poured the 
tea. 

“Gie me a cup o’ tea, sweet blossom ; do you 
live here ?” 

“For the present,” replied Violet, her hand 
trembling nervously ; “ Will you sugar and milk 
your tea ?” 

“I will, mi lass; tell me your name; it ought 
to be Lily.” 

“Violet, not Lily.” 

“Ah! that’s a heaven-born name; ye’ll come 
and see us when we gets reddied up for company 

“Oh ! yes ; I expect we shall be fast friends.” 

“Indeed we shall; I’se hurryin’ to find the 
wood land, wi’ a bit o’ a workin’ patch, to go wi’ 
it ; ha’ yourselves here, land to sell V’ 

“I have a large piece of wood land,” said Mrs. 
Chubbuck, “about a mile and a half north-east 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


161 


of us, but I can’t say as it would be what you 
want. There’ s a lot of good oak, birch and hick- 
ory there, and a sprinkling of hemlocks on one 
side of it ; the stumps are pretty thick, I guess, for 
the land is considerable old. Squire Loomis owns 
a handsome piece of meadow land, that runs right 
along side of my woods, and there’s plenty of 
pretty good land to till, near it too. There’s a 
good many stones in this part of the world ; they 
keep the ploughs rough as old hoes, and its a job 
to get ’em out in some places.” 

“Aye, my good dame, this is the very spot for 
us ; I felt it in my soul as we crossed your hill, 
an’ the smoke o’ your chimney come to our eyes, 
that here was a stoppin’ place, an’ I telled John 
’ Ardy so, an’ the lasses ; we’se tired ; long days 
w-e’se travelled ; aye, we’se tired,” and she passed 
her cup to be re-filled. 

‘ ‘ Gie me a bit more o’ this good tea, an’ tell 
me now where will we go to be fed an’ lodged for 
a bit? It’ll take a couple o’ weeks, wayn’t it, 
John, to get up a bit o’ a cabin for us?” 

“Has long, and hit may be longer.” 

“Well, then, we must find shelter wi’ some o’ 
these good folks, ” and she looked inquiringly into 
Mrs. Chubbuck’s face, while the smile of a possi- 


162 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


bility crossed her own, as a reflection of a thought 
which rose within. 

The hostess, was thinking strongly, and the lines 
about her mouth grew tense, as her teeth closed 
on the vexatious questions before her ; she coidd 
and she couldn’t ; she could and she ought ; yes, 
the lawyer of reason and love for humanity plead 
strongly ; the lines in her face grew mobile ; a 
half smile crept like a ray of sunlight into her 
eyes, and with one decisive movement, in her 
chair, she spoke : 

‘ ‘ I don’t know who you be, nor where you come 
from, but your faces are as honest as mine, and 
you deserve to be as well treated as I should, if I 
was travelling ; I like to be quiet, and I’m used 
to it ; pretty much all of the confusion we have, 
George kicks up, and he never moves without 
knockin’ over a chair, or somebody’s thoughts, 
some way. I never see anybody like him, and ef 
he wasn’t the best man God ever made, I shouldn’t 
think I could get along with it always. Well, I’ll 
tell you the facts jest as they are : there’s two 
rooms in the front of the house that you may have, 
if you’ll stay in ’em ; I don’t mean for you to be 
penned up like regular John Bunjan’s, but I mean 
to jest keep out of my way, when I’m a doin’ my 
work. I’ll be real glad to talk with you when I 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


163 


can set down before the fire-place and enjoy it ; 
but I never could enjoy eating custard pie, when 
there was mustard plasters to make, and its jest" 
so with visiting and working. Let me get the 
victuals, and you eat ’em when they’re ready. 
There’s a stove in one room and a fire-place in the 
other, and that settles what I can do.” 

“ What’ll you charge us for board, mother?” 

“ Oh ! good land, I don’t know ; a dollar a week 
apiece, I guess.” 

“Nay, nay, that wayn’t do; ye shall ha’ ten 
dollars a week for the five. How is that?” 

“That’s too much ; I shan’t have it.” 

“Aye, but ye will, an’ John must find a place 
for his ’osses.” 

“Oh! well, we’ve got two empty stalls, and 
there’s hay enough to feed a half dozen extry ; 
that’ll be all right.” 

“An’ we’ll pay for all the hay that’s used. John 
’Ardy, what ha’ ye got to say ?” 

“Hamen,” he reverently said, bowing his head. 
The eyes of the girls looked brighter, and little 
Janey, drew a long breath, as if her young heart 
felt the moving away of a burden, while the elder 
expressed her thanks modestly, and spoke much 
as a mother might, regarding the safety of her 


164 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


brood. Mrs. Chubbuck looked at her as if aston- 
ished, and said : 

“ I should think you was a girl who took care 
of things.” 

“That she does,” said her mother. “ She is the 
mother o’ us all, an’ when I tries to help her, she 
pushes me off wi’, ‘ ah ! the bother you makes 
me ; go and seat thyself.’ ” 

“And I tell no story, Mrs. Chubbuck; my 
mother does everything wrong ; she snarls the 
thread, and twists the housework ; breaks my 
dishes, and is as like to set them on the floor 
about her, as in the closet. She is fit for only ” 

“Hist! thee child; say nowt o’ Rachel; ah! 
there’s mi name, mother ! call me by it.” 

“That was the name of my blessed mother,” 
said the tender heart, and her eyes overran with 
tears. 

“ Our names is John and Rachel ; Ruth, the 
first born ; Nancy, two years younger, and wee 
small Janey, only eight years wi’ us ; Janey love, 
go get thy fiddle from the cart, afore feyther puts 
up the ’osses.” 

“ Does she play on a fiddle?” said Violet. 

“Aye, that she does, right well, an’ Rachel 
sings; lots o’ songs has Janey, mi darlin’, an’ 
me,” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


165 


“Mother,” whispered the little girl, “ask the 
lady if I may fiddle a bit while we stays here.” 

Mrs. Chubbuck’s tears were chased by smiles, 
as she answered the question she had overheard. 

“Oh! you may, my child, and well be over 
glad to have a tune ; who taught you how ?” 

The large dark eyes of Janey rested wonderingly 
on the face of her inquirer as she answered. 

“ Why, it grows inside o’ me, and I just fiddles 
it out, as easy.” 

“Ah ! Janey, so the music does grow inside o’ 
thee,” and the mother looked proudly upon the 
pet of the family. 

Belinda had not been presented to the visitors ; 
entering the sitting room a moment after they 
were seated at the table, she had, however, like 
Prof. Rathbun, been an attentive listener to their 
conversation, and when Rachel said “wait a bit,” 
as her husband, John, rose from the table, both 
approached the open door, in time to see the up- 
turned eyes of the strange woman, and the hands 
reached forth and tightly clasped before her. 
From her lips fell thanks, and the scene was most 
impressive. 

Her clear, yet peculiar enunciation, which 
marked the strange blending of Scotch and Eng- 
lish dialect, was a power that riveted their attery 


166 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


tion as with great earnestness, betraying depth of 
feeling she poured forth to the divine ear, the ut- 
terance of her spirit. 

“ Oh ! great an’ ever watchful Sperrit, unto 
thy heart as beats eternally for man, Rachel o’ 
Michigan breaths a deep breath o’ thankfulness. 
Thou whose power has lighted the track o’ the 
wanderer, aye, we thanks thee to-day for this 
blest endin’ o’ our journey. Light an’ darkness 
has been ours, we has tread the unsought path o’ 
the great woods, an’ the Feytlier’s angels has 
been wi’ us all the way. John ’Ardy has realized 
the touching o’ their hands o’ help. Aye, even 
unto our wee Janey the power o’ Heaven has 
spoke, an’ as the long ago men was guided, so 
has we been. Sperrit o’ life an’ love an’ all 
things good an’ true, stay wi’ us still, show us 
again in the nights as is to come, every duty as 
belongs to us; help us to help ourselves, an’ 
every bother, an’ let us live here in thy woods at 
peace wi’ trees, wi’ men an’ wi’ thee, oh, our 
God!” 

Tears had fallen from beneath the quivering 
lashes as she prayed, and no thanksgiving could 
have been more acceptable to the tarrying angels 
than this heartfelt prayer, so eloquent in its sim- 
plicity, that the hearts that heard stood still. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


167 


Mrs. Chubbuck forgot her anxiety as to the 
coming dinner hour ; and when Rachel rose, say- 
ing, “now we’ll go an’ set by the fire, an’ let the 
mother o’ Charity do her work. Come gells,’’ she 
sat looking steadily down at the table-cloth, and 
blaming herself for being so slow to decide as to 
their stay. The thought disposed of, she started 
as from a dream, with 

“ Vilit, can you go and show Mr. Hardy where 
to put the horses?” 

“Certainly,” said the dewy-eyed maiden; and 
a leaf turned in the book of the day. 

“You’ll have to ’tend to yourselves now,” said 
Mrs. C., putting her head into the sitting-room 
door, “I’ve got dinner to get.” 

“All right,” said the Professor, “ I am tarrying 
for my own pleasure; which you will excuse.” 

“Stay jest as long as you want to ;” and with 
Millie Dean and the Hitting feet of the busy 
Violet, all things moved on as they should. 

The group in the sitting-room was peculiarly 
attractive in the semicircle before the huge fire- 
place, whose maple back log upheld a tower of 
burning wood, which brooded over the glowing 
coals beneath. 

Belinda sat at the farthest corner, in her rocker, 
and Rachel upon entering seated herself on a low 


168 


SLtJE RIBBONS. 


stool beside her ; then came the three girls, little 
Janey sitting on a stool, the twin of that occupied 
by Rachel, on her lap the old violin and bow, 
which she fondled lovingly, as if it were a dear 
friend, and as Professor Rathbun took in the 
group at a single glance, he drew a picture which 
was hung in the guest chamber of his memory as 
a fadeless treasure. 

Each face spoke the peculiar language of the 
tenant soul. 

Upon the features of Ruth, rested a mingled 
expression of peace and care, which gave her a 
subdued, pensive look, and her nut brown hair, 
tanned cheeks and dark eyes rendered her a girl- 
woman, and as the Professor scanned her express- 
ion, changeful, but tinged with the subdued feel- 
ing which belonged only to the middle-aged and 
old, he thought, “too bad, she has too much 
resting on her young shoulders.” 

Nancy was bright and restless, her eyes of blue, 
and clear white skin, with hair of golden brown, 
formed a strong contrast to that of Ruth, and the 
evidence of a more selfish nature, and one which 
could not brook the restraint which Ruth had 
always borne, who would be apt to read stories 
and churn at the same time, looking at pleasure 
while she kept one hand only on the crank of 


BLUE KIBBOKS. 


169 


duty, caused no sigli to rise for her, but on the 
contrary a decision, “she will look out for num- 
ber one,” as the eyes went wandering on to rest 
in admiration on Janey. 

The clothing of the three girls was of brown 
flannel, their short frocks revealing stout English 
brogans, and hand-knit hose of a greyish color. 
Janey sitting cross-legged on her stool, with her 
friend, the violin, lying like a baby in her lap, 
looked in the fire coals for pictures, and the play 
of her face was a study. Nature had moulded 
her face exquisitely. Oval in shape, a small but 
expressive mouth was of Grecian type, with a 
forehead broadband not too high for beauty, 
arching eyebrows, whose long dark lashes fell 
over speaking eyes, and its symmetrical outline, 
crowned with a shapely head, with a covering of 
jet black curls, made her look like a dark eyed 
sylph, dropped down among those who were 
wholly unlike her. 

A close examination of the mother, Rachel, 
however, gave a satisfactory explanation of her 
relation to the family ; and while in eyes and 
hair she bore resemblance to her father, it was 
the clear cut outline of her mother’s face she 
wore, and the development of brain was exactly 
similar. 


8 


170 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


Rachel Hardy was no ordinary woman ; she 
had a rare development of spirituality and was 
living on extraordinary nervous energy, being 
of medium size, small boned, and angular from 
thinness. 

Her face was fair and white as that of an infant, 
her mouth delicately curved, her eyes a clear, 
sweet blue, that made one think of the sky in 
June ; her forehead like Janey’s, and her shapely 
head, was covered with hair whose brown had 
melted into threaded gray, with only here and 
there a touch of youth. She wore it short, and 
as she sat thinking and talking, her small thin 
fingers ran restlessly through it. She could not 
sit quietly ; eyes and hands were in constant 
motion, and looking kindly into Belinda’s face, 
she said : “ Look up, mi dear ; what makes you 
so down hearted 3 there’s been trouble a-near, but 
don’t ye werrit, there’s summat bright ahead. 
Look up an’ be glad.” 

Belinda pressed her hand, and the ever ready 
tears gathered in her eyes. 

“Don’t ye cry, poor girl ! don’t think the sun 
has gone too far away : day ever hides its head 
a-near the night ; morning comes soon. Look up, 
I say, mi dear,” and turning suddenly to Prof. 


BLUE EIBBOKS. 


iti 

Rathbun, “what kind of a man is you; a doc- 
tor ?” 

“ What made you think I might be a doctor? 

“ That’s a Yankee trick, to cross-question in- 
stead o’ makin’ a straight speech.’' 

“Well, then, let me say I have studied medi- 
cine, but am not practicing.” 

“ Aye, good for you, there’s enough wi’out you 
to dissect folks while yet they lives ; but what 
does you do? there’s summat strange about you.” 

“ Tell me about it, Mrs. Hardy ; you are a sort 
of a witch, I believe. ” 

Her brows knitted ; and throwing a sharp, cut- 
ting glance of dislike at the Professor, she said : 

“ Ye mout think it fun to call me a witch ; but, 
oh ! never do it more : it’s long days I’se borne 
that title, and I’se no witch at all, but one o’ 
God’s women, and I halites that name ; aye, I 
halites it. It’s neither good manners nor right ; 
ye should know better,” and crossing her limbs, 
she folded her hands and looked sternly, and 
straight into the coals. 

“X beg forgiveness, I meant no injury, .good 
woman. ” 

“Hist, man! it makes no matter, you’re ignor- 
ant an’ make mistakes ; but what is ye walkin’ 
around the world to read folks’ faces for ?” and 


172 


BLUE KIBBOUB. 


her eyes again met those of the Professor’s, and 
ere he could speak, she said : 

“ Ye needn’t ax me why I thowt it ; I felt ye 
look at me, an’ I’se willin’ to hear ye tell me who 
I is an’ all about me, but first let me sa-ay, I 
thinks ye preaches a great deal more wisdom than 
ye practices.” 

“Hurrah for the Professor !” and with this sal- 
utation, accompanied by a merry laugh, George 
Bean entered. “Now for an examination; let 
him place his hands on your head, my dear 
sister.” 

“Aye, I will an’ welcome, but lie’s not the 
good man you is, George ; you does just as near 
right as you knaaws how, an’ he doesn’t,” and 
she sat as passively as she could while the smil- 
ing Professor made his survey of her head. 

He pronounced it a wonderful cranium, and 
told her so truly of her peculiarities that Ruth 
and Nancy clapped their hands for joy ; and 
John Hardy, who entered during the talk, sat as 
if overwhelmed by the surprising recitation of 
character which bumps revealed so truly. 

The diagnosis closed with this sentence : 

“You are a natural doctor, you can set bones, 
make herbal medicines with perfect ease, and 
withal, you have an entirely original and inde- 


BLUE RIBBONS, 


173 


pendent mode in this matter. Hard cases, peo- 
ple with old sores and infirmities of long stand- 
ing should seek you, as the Balm in Gilead, which 
is greater, because more natural, purer and stronger 
than that which is embraced by the medical school. 
You have inherited this gift from three genera- 
tions, and it may be even farther.” 

“How does ye tell so true?” and she turned 
quickly round on the stool. 

“ Simply following the laws of a natural science. 

“ Aye, but ye must know well how to put this, 
and that together, else bumps as high as old 
Arriarat wouldn’t tell ye much.” 

‘ 4 Exactly. The power of comparison, and also 
that of analogous reasoning, must be depended 
on.” 

44 Aye, I understand ye ; but the learning that 
ould Hingland gie me didn’t help me to the 
great words, like them ye uses ; but look ye 
here ! can everybody, lout an’ lord, learn to tell 
the truth as well ?” 

44 Anyone of ordinary capacity can understand 
it, certainly.” 

44 That’s good ; now, then, ye tell me nowt that’s 
new, but it’s only a different way o’ gettin’ at it, 
an all I’se livin’ for now is to stay a bit longer wi’ 
mi lasses an’ John ’Ardy, and to help folks to 


174 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


live betther. Don’t ye deem it strange that most 
o’ the people in the States is such fools \ Why, 
they rather believe a pretty lookin’ an’ good-for- 
nothin’ lie any time, than a right hand solid and 
forever- to-be truth.” 

“You speak words of wisdom,” said George 
Bean. “The Lord has sent more help to me: 
glory be unto God ! who giveth us the victory.” 

“Hamen,” said John Hardy. 

“ So be it,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “but dinner 
js ready ; come, one and all.” 

“Nay, nay,” cried Rachel, “we lia’ no room 
for dinner ; let me lie down an’ rest a bit. “Girls, 
does ye want a bit more ?” None but little Janey 
went to the table, and she, child-like, thought 
she had a “ small corner for a bite of bread,” as 
she expressed it. Differing from her sisters, not 
only in face, but in manners and speech as w r ell, 
her sentences betrayed much of the Scotch found 
in her mother’s ; and the manner in which every 
little speech was made, rendered her a perfect 
pleasure to Yiolet and Millie, who were impatient 
to hear strains from her violin. 

“ How funny her little brown fingers will look 
making music,” said Yiolet. The child hardly 
knew what to make of their united attentions, 
and as she grew to feel at ease, her nature, like 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


175 


foaming beer, ran over the sides of the glass, and 
won continued smiles of approbation. Dear 
little Janey, how this new love strung its beads 
of pure delight, as a charming necklace for the 
forest maiden, and wrote her name in fadeless 
letters, as the “Flower of Michigan,” Violet’s lov- 
ing title. 

J ohn Hardy was a true Englishman ; dropped 
and added his h’ s with native grace. His heart 
shone through good natured eyes, and physically 
he was a wonderful specimen. Standing erect, 
and measuring six feet six, his muscle, bone and 
sinew fit for a giant ; his dimensions were a 
study, and the perfect play of muscles in every 
finger, compared with ordinary men, drew a con 
trast as notably striking as that between the 
glorious horses of Arabia, and the weakest of 
American specimens. 

He was a solid, sturdy farmer, and could walk 
fearlessly through the forest. 

The woodland they were to purchase, was what 
he thought of, and the work to be done he was 
longing to do. “No lazy bones in John,” said 
Rachel. “George, let the old man walk along 
over to school wi’ ye ; mother Charity says that 
ye pass the woodland as ye go.” 

“All right,” said George, “we will do every- 


176 


BLUE KIBB0NS. 


tiling we can ; and there are people enough who 
will help to raise the tabernacle in the wilderness, 
but, see here ! Squire Loomis has just the place 
for you ; yes, yes, you will want the Squire’s 
land to till, and the woodland beside. Jedediah 
comes over to confer with me to-night, and we 
wdll talk the matter over with him.” 

“Aye, George, do ; an’ see here ! let the man. 
come right home wi’ ye while school is over.” 

“Exactly. I shall go to his father’s direct 
from school, and eat supper with them, and then 
we will walk right over.” 

“The ways o’ truth is straight; now, then, 
we’se to be all right,” and Rachel gave vent to 
her joy, jumping from the sofa where she had 
been resting, and running about the room with 
the nimbleness of a cat. 

“ See mother cut the antics,” said Janey, and 
all laughed, while George Bean fairly roared ; he 
screamed at last, “Hold me, hold me, I shall 
die,” as still round and round the room went 
Rachel, dancing and singing: “The Feyther’s 
led us home, an’ we’ll stay, an’ we’ll stay. ” 

When George started for school, he whispered 
to Mrs. Chubbuck. 

“ Good land !” was her reply, “wall, let him 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


17? 


come over to-night, I guess it’s time to try him, 
and see if he can be a man.” 

“ Oh ! he can,” replied George. 

“When be they going over? I didn’t under- 
stand.” 

“To-morrow night they propose to go, or 
rather, along about dusk, in order to return 
early.” 

Belinda overheard the whisper, for, as Mrs. 
Chubbuck had' said, George’s whisper was no 
secret, being distinct enough for common hearing, 
and she walked to the door as he went out, long- 
ing to ask him. He felt the question which rose 
in her heart, and said : “Be of good cheer, the 
fatted calf is soon to be killed for the feast.” 


CHAPTER X. 


S OOTSTEPS on the veranda — George and 
Jedediah — and, ah ! Belinda knew whose 
quick springing step she heard. It was a 
sound of other days, and swiftly through her 
pulses ran the blood which mantled cheek and 
brow, as she passed quickly into the kitchen, and 
seated in the farthest corner, waited for the 
coming of one she longed to see. 

George entered the sitting-room, and intro- 
ducing Jedediah “to the Hardy’s in particular, 
and the rest in general,” motioned Simeon to pass 
through into the kitchen where he surmised his 
wife might be found. 

The heart of Mrs. Chubbuck, which tried so hard 
to steel itself against Sim., beat as with eager an- 
ticipation; and as he crossed the threshhold she 
met him with an outstretched hand and a kindly 
smile, passing into the other room that he and 
Belinda might meet alone. 

Simeon’s limbs trembled, as he stood for a mo- 
ment looking for his wife, and when he saw her, 
and she essayed to rise, as, stretching forth her 
hands, she said pitifully, “Oh! Simeon,” his 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


179 


whole being convulsed as w 7 ith fear. He moved 
toward her — took a chair beside her, put both 
arms about her waist ; and with her head on his 
shoulder, their tears mingled. Neither could 
speak, and for a full half hour the overwhelming 
thoughts of the past covered them both, while at 
their feet the tide of a new 7 life made moan, as if 
to call their attention, and rising higher aud 
higher, it met at last the ice-clods of their united 
sorrows, and melted them with the w 7 armtli of 
this love, new T -born, then when the tide of tears 
also ran down to unite with this sea of a promised 
content, their eyes grew dry, and, meeting each 
other, merged their light as rays of a rising sun, 
that lights a certain part of the horizon, and Be- 
linda said, “I have w r anted you so; and you 
have missed me, haven’t you? 1 ’ 

“Oh! Belinda, my poor, tired wife ; my abused 
one; God is merciful to me, a sinner, but I will 
do right henceforth. Has not soberness brought 
back some of my old life, even though I have, 
suffered intensely? Do you not see your lost 
Simeon again?” 

“I do, indeed ; oh! it is too good to be true.” 

“You are going home w r ith me to-night? George 
Bean says you may.” 

“Home to-night,” she murmured slowdy; 


180 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“home to-night! oh! I — yes — I thought — ” and 
her head fell on his shoulder, her hands were 
cold, — she was faint. 

He held her hands, chafing them, and with his 
strong life, drew back the breath that seemed as 
if about to leave her. 

“ Shall I call Mrs. Chubbuck?” he said. 

“No, no ; I am not strong yet — oh ! do not call 
her, I want to go if I only can ; is the house 
warm V ’ 

“Warm, Belinda; why, have they not told 
you about it?” 

“About what, Simeon? I cannot understand.” 

“ What a man that George Bean is ; I call him 
my Savior. Squire Loomis, Belinda, sent over 
wood, meat and vegetables; and then his wife 
came to see me ; and how many women helped 
her I cannot tell. I only know she asked me for 
the key of the house, and liberty to go in and 
arrange things as she pleased ; and when I went 
home at night the little front room looked so pleas- 
ant and nice I hardly knew it. A carpet, almost 
exactly like our old one, with curtains at the win- 
dows, trimmed, and kind of catched up, you 
know, at the side. Oh ! I shall make poor work 
telling it, I guess; but everything was changed. 
The buttery, filled with good looking dishes and 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


181 


tins; rugs in the bedroom, kitchen, and even the 
back entry ; our bed was nicely made, with two 
blankets added, and a splendid wool-filled com- 
forter on the outside of the bed ; and in a chair, 
six new sheets with pillow-cases of home-made 
linen. 

“ The door-stone was swept clean, every bit of 
dirt was gone, and I never had so hard a night 
alone. To lie there and think of it all, and you 
not there ; away and sick, and perhaps injured 
for life at my hands. Oh ! my blessed wife, what 
shall I do to atone?” and the tears came again, 
but they were destined not to stay, for the form 
of Rachel approached them, and with a peculiar 
light in her eyes, she said, 

“Come mi dears; come on, little Janey is to 
fiddle a bit — ye’ll joy to hear her ;” and although 
Belinda would fain have kept her seat in the 
kitchen, holding Simeon’s hand, as if afraid of 
losing him, there was no waiting or refusing 
Rachel ’Ardy; and almost before she knew it, 
they were in the sitting-room, she in her big chair 
and Simeon beside her. 

Little Janey sat on her favorite seat, the stool, 
and was thrumming the old violin ; which looked 
as if it was a centennarian, being constructed 
after an old English pattern. 


182 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ Now it’s all right mother,” she said, “ will ye 
sing ?” 

“Aye, mi lass; play through the tune one or 
two times.” 

The round head shook its jet black curls, and 
with her large, dark eyes fixed dreamily in space, 
she drew the bow tenderly across the violin, as if 
in love to woo sweet strains. No music of the 
wooded wild birds could have been sweeter. A 
trembling thrill of every string, and from the old 
box came a mellow ripple of sweet sounds that 
fell like voices from an extended line of throats, 
each bearing evidence there was more to come, 
and ere the melody she wove was half complete, 
her listeners were spell bound. 

All hearts are truly musical, and no sound 
coming so near to nature’s own, could speak in 
vain even to the roughest ; the violin was telling 
a story — what was it 1 

John Hardy’s hands rested upon his knees, and 
his chin upon his breast, that rose and fell as if 
the man within was struggling with emotions. 
George Bean sat as if paralyzed, and Jedediah’s 
handsome face spoke wondrous thoughts, as he 
listened, rapt in pleasure. 'A strange sensation 
of awe rested over them ; a mingled reverence 
and love, and Millie and Yiolet clasped hands. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


183 


tightly, while mother Charity kept her ample 
handkerchief in near contact with her eyes, and 
as the little player for a moment paused, Rachel 
cleared her throat, and bending her ear as if to 
catch the tune, sang the same weird, beautiful 
strain that Janey played, a smile crossing her face 
now and then, as with only the graceful efforts of 
her wee brown hands, she brought the music forth 
to meet the perfect time her mother kept. The 
notes were theirs, and none could say whence they 
were gathered, and Rachel’ s voice, at first plaintive 
and low, gathered strength as the singing told a 
tale of life. Surely, no one but Rachel of Michi- 
gan could have done the same. 

“In the wilds o’ Michigan, on the border o’ a lake ; 

In a cabin built by logs, rough and strong, 

There we lived and loved each other, and our living we did make 
Feeding emigrants, as wandered along. 

“ When the caart’s canvass covered to our cabin came anear, 

Little Janey, in her joy, cried aloud 
There’s a lot o’ folks a cornin’, oh ! dear mother, they is here ; 
Has we bread enough an’ pork to feed such crowd ? 

“ An’ its well we got along, an’ wi’ many dollars toofc 
When an hangel of the Lord came, you see, 

An’ he whispered in mi ear, an’ he opened up a book, 

An’ he read o’ new work fur mine an’ me. 

“ An’ he said in twelve days more would a settler come at hand, 
Who would buy all the cabin an’ the bread ; 

Who would want to use the hoven in the forest all so grand ; 

An’ by him, and not by us, should men be fed. 


184 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“An’ he bade us move along ; follow light o’ eastern star ; 

Bade us wander to this eastern land awaay ; , 

And he telled me o’ the work o’ the souls to help afar ; 

So that’s the reason we is here to-day. 

“ God has browt us to our own, an’ he means as here we’ll stay, 

In the work o’ redemption to join ; 

We shall help one anither, as we march along our way, 

An’ wi’ truth, slia&l be girdled every loin. 

“ We shall cheat not a neighbor, an’ if we should cheated be, 

It is betther we should suffer for the right, 

As to heap the fiery coals on our heads, by wrong, you see ; 

Gie us conscience as is clear day and night. 

“ Oh ! mi brothers an’ mi sisters, let us balike together bread, 
While we rest in the Promises that’s graand ; 

As in old, God led his childer, so we all can now be led ; 

Take the heart o’ Rachel ’Ardy wi’ her haand.” 

The singer ceased, but Janey played right on ; 
her head thrown back ; eyes dilating every mo- 
ment. The violin bow seemed like a thing of life, 
whose motion nothing could arrest, and the child, 
lost to every surrounding, saw not the eyes which 
watched her ; knew nothing of the rapturous pleas- 
ure her notes awoke, and the thousand and one pre- 
cious things that hearts were thinking for her ; 
she was playing because she loved to and, like a 
true musical prodigy, was wandering on the tide 
of her music clear beyond them all, catching 
sounds more beautiful than her listeners heard, 
and seeing sights they dreamed not of. She was 


BLUE BIBBONS. 


185 


floating in perfumed air, taking long breaths of 
sweetness, which filled her soul so full, that their 
windows, her dark eyes, could but enlarge with 
the light which they reflected and, at last, her 
mother going near her said, in a low tone : 

“Janey, mi love, hold thee, dear; we’ll get so . 
far on road to heaven, it’ll be a hard, cold journey 
back.” 

A sweet smile crossed the face of the minstrel, 
and with a few last quivering notes, which sounded 
as if her heaven-born music was running lightly 
down the stairs which led to earth, the little brown 
hands lay over the violin and bow and, looking 
up, with a bright smile, she naively said : 

“Have I tired thee, mother Charity ?” 

“Oh! no,” answered Mrs. Chubbuck, “but 
your little hands are tired, ain’t they?” 

“No, mam; I never get tired wi’ music. I 
rather do it than go to school, oh ! deary dear ; 
poor Janey’s got such a deal to learn, and she 
likes the birds as makes nests in her fiddle bet- 
ther’n all the long words,” and she hugged the 
brown box tightly and kissed it in her joy. 

“You ought to fiddle all you want to.’’ 

“So she shall make much music,’’ said her 
mother, “but she must learn a little; she would 


186 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


not wish to grow up a foolish lass ; would thee, 
love ?” 

“It’ll be good enough to know it, but the time 
I has to spend wi’ books, and then the chips ; you 
know, mother, I has to pick up the chips.” 

“You need not pick up a single chip,” said 
Jedediah. “ I will do it for you, if you will pay 
me in lpusic.” 

She looked at him a moment as if to test the 
sincerity of his words and, leaving her stool, went 
and sat at his feet, her companion still in her 
arms, and looking trustfully up into his face. 

“ I likes ye first rate ; will ye never scold or wer- 
rit me ? I can’t play good if I’se werrited.” 

“Never, you darling,” and the handsome fel- 
low stooped to kiss her forehead as reverently as 
if she were an angel. 

“I’ll get the stool and sit right here,” and in 
her sweet innocence, she sat by him, as if realiz- 
ing a protector, and lovingly said : 

“Take the bow and hold it a little bit; ye’ll 
not harm it.” 

“ You do not offer your Violin?” 

“No, no,” she quickly said, “I keeps this 
baby in a green blanket,” and forth from a capa- 
cious pocket came the green bag which was well 
worn, but served its purpose well. The little 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


187 


maid born, and reared thus far, amid the loneli- 
ness of a western settler’s home, knew nothing of 
the vampire want that breeds in luxury, and here 
was the key to her genuineness, as free as a bird, 
if she had room. When the first hour’s strange- 
ness wore away Janey was herself, and nothing 
more ; an artless, loving child, with a precocity of 
intellect and a power of music. Rich uncultiva- 
ted soil lay in the fields of her growing thought, 
and what would the future bring to her? Vio- 
let and Millie prophesied ; yes, they all thought 
of the years that lay before her, and the lessons 
she read, in her simple way, were as blest to the 
hearts of her new found friends as their kindly 
words to her young and appreciative spirit. 

“ B’lindy is going home,” said Mrs. Chubbuck. 

“ Oh ! we shall miss you,” chimed Violet and 
Millie. These two girls were growing together, 
and, like couplets in a rhyme, harmonious ; Mil- 
lie deferring always to the unerring judgment of 
Violet, and she, in her turn, consulting ever the 
taste and wishes of Millie Dean. Apple Rest 
would have been lonely enough without them. 

“ Good-by, B’lindy ; the girls’ll be over to- 
morrow. I guess one of ’em better go and stay 
with you a few days for company.” 

“You cannot spare either of them now,” re- 


188 


BLUE RIBBON’S. 


plied Belinda, “ I will get along. Good-by,” and 
leaning on Simeon, with George Bean at their 
side, they went out. 

A gleam of pure white moonlight fell across 
their path, and looked as if it wanted to say, 
“Trust him, he will be upheld.” The moonlight 
was kind and tenderly appreciative ; but the 
jewel love that a woman strings, as one white 
bead upon her rosary of years, has always its 
place ; tears may moisten, and clouds may cover, 
still when born it is always there, and the silken 
cord of the soul that holds these jewels forever, 
shields it on either side by oval shapes of differ- 
ing lustre, where all the work and thought of life 
runs from the central pearl of her pure affections, 
in either way to the end of the years that gather. 
Ah ! yes, she would trust ; not try, but really, 
truly, naturally trust, because she loved him, and 
he held that one dear place. Blessed be Simeon ! 

“ There,” said George, as he entered the house, 
“there goes two happy hearts; so much for 
fighting rum, and helping a poor fellow to lift his 
head to look out of darkness into the light. 
Everybody called him worthless, and you were 
all mistaken. I knew when I looked in his eye 
that he was grandly made. To me he looked 
like a splendid wreck, and I determined to not 


fcLim RIBBONS. 


189 


leave his shattered mast and floating spars, but 
to lash together the debris of the man and tow 
into port where he could be rebuilt, and I did it. 
Yes sir, by the help of God, who gave me this in- 
vincible will, I did it, and I will do it again ; I 
will never leave the side of a brother and say, 
take him, Mr. Devil, spirit of the still, take him 
to the abode of your Satanic majesty. No, no, 
upon the lake of Avernus shall not willingly 
float my friends ; I will protect them to the last. 
I will do anything, everything, and my vigils 
shall be unceasing, my hand forever near. Oh, 
great Heaven ! if I only had money enough to 
live on, I would do nothing else except save sin- 
ners from the wine cup.’’ 

“ Good for ye, George ; gie me your hand. I’se 
wi’ ye, and I never takes a bit o’ anything but mi 
own root beer at spring, and a sup o’ new cider if 
I gets a cauld.” 

“ You do not need even that, my dear sister.” 

‘‘Yes, I does; but see here, George, I’se to 
help ye, an’ many’s the heel we’ll help to turn 
agin’ temptation. Caan’t ye get up some sort o’ 
society like, and gie it a good, true naame, a real 
true, bonny blue.” 

“Yes, yes,” said George, “we can do every- 


190 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


tiling. Oh, my God ! I thank thee for the com- 
ing of Rachel.” 

“Mrs. Hardy,” said Yiolet, “let me suggest a 
title for our friend Mr. Bean, which would also be 
a good name for a society. ’’ 

“Go ahead, mi lass,” and both Rachel and 
George were pacing the room nervously. 

“ I named him ‘Blue Ribbons’ long ago, but 
never dared to tell him of it.” 

“Thou hast done well, ‘Blue Ribbons’ itis;aye, 
George, thou hast great cause to feel graand over 
such a name.” 

“I believe I shall,” said he; and with blue 
ribbons bursting from the throats of all simulta- 
neously, little Janey cried aloud : “Mayn’t I fid- 
dle a tune for him, mother?” 


CHAPTER XT. 



GREYISH afternoon lay over Hyde ; trees 
and valley wore the sombre threaded man- 
tle which floating clouds bad colored, and 
a chill pervaded the air, prophetic of snow. 

Jedediah and Mrs. Loomis drove down to Mrs. 
Chubbuck’s in a double sleigh with a span of 
horses, and invited mother Charity to go over to 
Simeon’s with them. 

“ I hardly see how I can leave,” she said, “ the 
girls have gone, though they both declared they 
would stay at home ef I couldn’t go ; but I sent 
Millie over this morning, and Yilit went about a 
half an hour ago. I guess I’d better stay here ; I 
hate to hurry.” 

“Here, here, what’s the matter that’s raised 
mother Charity. Go ahead wi’ you, woman ; an’ 
if it’s to see the sad-eyed gell as left us last night, 
let me go wi’ ye,” and Rachel stood before Mrs. 
Chubbuck with both hands on her shoulder, and 
no thought of Mrs. Loomis being a stranger, or 
the informal self-introduction she was perpetra- 
ting. 

“Mrs. Hardy, this is Squire Loomis’ wife.” 


192 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


‘ ‘ Aye, how does ye do, mi dear ; I’d like to 
go over wi’ ye.” 

“I should be pleased to have you ; we have 
plenty of room in the sleigh : and Jedediah, who 
came upon the verandah in time to hear the 
speech, said: “Where’s our little Janey \ let’s 
have her and the fiddle.” 

“Aye, Janey mi lass ; get thy sack an’ hood, 
an’ taake thy fiddle.” 

“Look here,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “let the 
Hardy’s all go, and me stay to home here, and 
kind of get things righted ; let me tell the girls ; 
but they refused to go, Nancy, because of a certain 
feeling of pride, and a fear of being provoked and 
discomfited by her mother’s irrepressible peculi- 
arities, which expressed themselves freely under 
any and all circumstances. 

“I’m not going,” she said to Ruth, “to see 
mother cut up, and act so like a crazy woman ; 
and you know the more need of behaving, the 
less she does. No, indeed; I’m mortified enough 
here.” 

Ruth declined, for reason of the real modesty 
which made it hard for her to meet strangers, and 
then she preferred a quiet time, and could get the 
supper as well as Mrs. Chubbuck. She was a 
practical worker, and learned readily regarding 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


193 


house work. “Now, go right on,” she said to 
Mrs. Chubbuck, “ I will get the supper for us 
three and the school teacher ; can do it just as 
well as not; you must go,” and she did. 

Putting mother Charity, Rachel and his mother 
on the ample back seat, and tucking the buffalo 
robes snugly about them, Jedediali ensconced 
Janey and her violin beside himself, and the ride 
was shortly accomplished. 

The little cottage was being stormed with peo- 
ple, and Belinda, looking about in wonder and 
almost dismay, thinking, if many more appeared, 
they would have to sit on the floor, or perhaps 
hang on to the window-sills, for the rooms were 
small, and the numbers threatened to be legion. 

“I am glad you have come,” she said, as 
Rachel ran, without ceremony, into the house, 
followed by Janey. 

‘ ‘ Aye, I’ se glad I has ; but did mi own invitin’ , 
else I shouldn’t ha’ been here; what’s the fuss 
they’se raisin’? way n’t ye get too tired?” 

“ I guess not ; the girls do not let me do a thing, 
except to sit in my new cushioned chair ; I will 
offer it to you.” 

“Nay, nay; you’ll not find Rachel o’ Michigan 
such a fool as to take what ye need, mi dear ; seat 
thyself, an’ don’t werrit. These is good folks; 
9 


194 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


they’se come to make ye glad, aye, sure enough ; 
there comes George wi’ three or four men.” 

“Sure enough, Simeon and Squire Loomis, 
with Mr. Hardy, and some one else I do not 
know.” 

“Here we are,” said George, “ready to enroll 
our names on the list of the chosen. Soldiers in 
the army of the Lord ; and here is our dear sister 
Rachel ; well, well, the victory is ours.” 

“Aye, that it is; an’ look ye here, George, this 
is a nice comfortable little house, just the kind o’ 
a home we needs, can’t ye draw the lines out on 
paper for us, to look over an’ figger up the 
cost, &c.” 

George smiled, for although he himself was for- 
ever piling thoughts, and prone to mix them up 
strangely, venturing on the sea of projects, often, 
when the wind was anything but fair, and his 
friends looking in another direction, he did not 
fail to realize the untimely suggestions of others, 
and remarked quietly, 

“We will attend to that matter at an early day. ” 

“Aye,” she persisted, “but get it into your 
head now. We’se in haste for flxin’ ; we must 
not bide w r i’ mother Charity longer nor we can 
help.” 

“Very well,” he answered. 


BLtTE RIBBONS. 


195 


“Come,” said Mrs. Loomis, “ now our friends 
are all here, we must eat the supper that is wait- 
ing for us.” 

“ Simeon, whispered Belinda, “what do you 
think ?” 

“I think the millenium is here,” and he dashed 
aside tears as he spoke. 

Simeon and his wife sat at the head of the table, 
and the guests numbered twenty-five ; all were ac- 
commodated comfortably, and before anything 
was served, Squire Loomis called on Eli Perkins 
to ask a blessing. He was an honest-hearted and 
progressive man, of few words and active princi- 
ples, and in earnest, simple way, he invoked the 
presence of love and an abiding peace, which 
should make the way of life a straight white path, 
and “ may our friends Simeon and Belinda,” he 
said, “ never have less than now.” 

The meal was partly through when Enos Hard 
proposed that they should pay a little compliment 
to those at the head of the table. 

“ A toast to Mr. and Mrs. Eastman.’' 

George responded in his usual telling manner. 

“ Let us pledge the health of the Lieutenant and 
his wife in a glass of undulated aqua. It is the 
drink of the gods, and an ‘ Argumentum ad horn- 
inemj and he held aloft a glass.” 


196 


BLtTE BIBBOttg. 


All guests, save Rachel and Janey, touched their 
glasses, welcoming the toast with a courteous dig- 
nity, that gave evidence of good breeding. 

Rachel laughed aloud, not at the token, but the 
phrase, whose latin she did not understand, and 
then, as if recollecting herself, half apologized. 

u ril not forget ye good folks, if I did lose mi 
senses in George’ s grand speech; never ye mind,” 
and a merry laugh went round the board. 

The meal ended ; all sat waiting as if for some- 
thing more, and a whisper at George’s elbow, 
caused him to inquire in his honest fashion. 

“ What next shall be done?” 

Eli Perkins leaning forward, spoke to him in an 
undertone, and those near, saw a parcel go from 
one to the other. 

George, clearing his throat, rose. 

“My well beloved friends ; brothers and sisters, 
whose hearts are united as one, the existence of 
whose sympathies are coeval with my own ; in the 
name of your kind appreciation of a just need ; in 
response to a call from a human heart, I am by 
you this moment authorized to deliver into the 
hands of our worthy Lieutenant and liis devoted 
wife, a mysterious package, the contents of which 
I am not apprized of, but realizing it is a gift from 
the hearts of an affectionate people, thank you for 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


197 


it, in behalf of the donee, into whose hands X now 
deliver it, and who will, undoubtedly, in his grace- 
ful response, completely overshadow my poor at- 
tempt at recognizing your services ; therefore the 
least, as well as very best that you can do, oh ! 
Simeon, is to receive this package, and make a 
speech,” and .he handed the parcel across the 
table to the confused, but not unappreciative, Sim- 
eon. Speech making was not like working in the 
saw mill, and he thought just then, the largest log 
that ever grew, would have been an infant to 
handle, in comparison with an expression of 
thanks, and with a lump in his throat, as large as 
a walnut, which he struggled to swallow, he rose, 
and manfully mastered the difficulties around him, 
the first sentence cutting the ice and relieving him 
greatly. 

4 Speech making is not my forte. I work in 
the Saw Mill ; but from the depths of my best feel- 
ing, I thank you, not only for the gift I hold in 
my hand, but for everything you have done for 
me. It is true I am receiving more than I deserve, 
if I am to be judged by the past, but I have re- 
gained the confidence in myself, which was lost. 
The fangs of the serpent which lurked in the wine 
cup, are no longer buried in my flesh, and the poi- 
son which had penetrated my very soul, almost. 


198 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


has been drawn out by needed suffering, and the 
physician who had moral strength to probe the 
sore, who stayed with me through long nights of 
fearing agony — he, by whose active help your 
sympathy was stirred, is to me a Savior ; George 
Bean has done what no other could or would have 
attempted, and I thank the God who helps men ; 
the man who lifted me from the pit of hell ; and 
you, my blessed friends. May I never be worthy 
of less, and may I never forget the kindness you 
have so freely bestowed.” 

“Open the box,” cried Rachel, “there might 
not be such a deal in it for all.” 

Tears and smiles were at this moment blent, as 
taking off the lid, Simeon saw thirty shining 
eagles of gold ; his hand trembled, he dropped 
the box, and with his eyes tear-filled, he said : 

“Great Heaven! friends; what shall I say? 
how dare I try to thank you ?” 

“Hurrah for Deacon Rayne!” cried George, 
“ you are free from his clutches, thank the Lord !” 
and then, with the look of a settled conviction on 
his face, he said slowly, and with great earnest- 
ness : “ This grand surprise, which has taken the 
starch out of Simeon, has well nigh unmanned 
me. It is more than I expected, and I feel in 
duty bound to respond to your benificence ; for 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


199 


inasmuch as you have relieved my brother, me 
also have you benefitted. My prayer and work, 
homely as it was, has been noted ; and oh ! my 
brothers and sisters, let us here to-night, upon the 
evening of the fifth day of the week, the day 
which derives its name from the God of thunder, 
a significant fact ; let us here, at the perihelion of 
our heartfelt ministrations, just at the moment 
when our souls come near the central Sun of love 
and purity, the paternal truth of the universe ; 
let us, I say, bind our hearts together with a 
divine desire that we may perform more of these 
blessed ministrations. 

u When we look into the bright and intelligent 
face of our brother Simeon, and behold the wealth 
of love and the integrity of purpose which rises 
from his soul to meet these friendly overtures ; 
when in listening to his maiden speech, we 
perceive with great joy that there is a fountain of 
thought within, a reservoir of intelligent compre- 
hension, not only of facts, but the principles 
which underlie them, we lift our hands and say, 
behold the change, realizing that we have found a 
treasure. And how has this pearl of the mind, 
and purpose of Simeon been discovered i I an- 
swer, by the simple act of justice, which cannot 
but make the hearts of his friends lighter, as well 


200 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


as his own. There is no part of our earthly lives 
so pleasurable as that which embraces deeds of 
kindness ; heaven-born bestowals upon another : 
and few are there among the world’s people who 
can really enjoy eating their bread, and sitting by 
their fire alone ; the commerce of souls is the first 
desideratum of existence ; not the traffic in 
morals, which is little less than a debt and credit 
account with our Maker ; but the free and full 
export and import of thought, which not only 
allows but commands us to make another’s case 
our own ; to exchange soul civilities, which are 
most acceptable in the sight of God and man. 

‘ ‘ Let us make this memorable night replete with 
pleasure, by forming this little band, a nucleus 
around which may gather the garnered truths of 
years. Let us frame a code consisting of the 
single law, ‘Love ye one another,’ and dedicate 
the efforts of our fraternal work to the cause of 
temperance and human needs. 

“We well know that men are intemperate in 
more ways than one ; the alluring wine-cup casts 
upon its victim a spell whose potency is equalled 
in other ways, but since it has fallen to our es- 
pecial lot to work in this direction, let us accept 
the position offered, and gracefully bow to the 
supremacy of the power which rules conditions, 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


201 


to govern men. We are officers elect, and let us 
prove not Peters, but devoted workers, worship- 
pers at the shrine of human interest and sympa- 
thy. 

“ Our flower friend, Violet, suggested a title for 
such a society of helpers, which to me is emi- 
nently appropriate, since the blue of the sky is 
the sacred canvass of Deity, which in its unfading 
beauty is a promise to our hearts, and the stars, 
that are to me as eyes that beam with truest feel- 
ing, could not rest as appropriately upon a sky 
of vermillion as upon this turquoise ground. The 
name of Blue Ribbons is a euphonious title, and 
a graceful tribute to the workers who will hold 
over their fellows the silken reins of love and 
purity. Shall we accept it ?” 

“ Aye,” shouted Rachel, who was as much at 
home as if she had lived in Hyde all her days, 

“Aye,” responded a chorus of voices, and 
Simeon proposed that George Bean be elected 
President and Secretary also.” 

“That will be a little too much responsibility 
for one,” said George, “I would prefer to have 
no office, and perfect liberty to express my 
thought.” 

The decision was, that the nomination of Presi- 


202 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


dent was wise and just, and lie was elected by 
acclamation. 

“Hurrah for Bine Ribbons !” shouted Rachel, 
“ that’s what Yilit calls him, and it’s a first rate 
name, Blue Ribbons is, George. No backin’ out 
to his flutterin’; neither wind nor rain puts his 
colors to shame.’’ 

“Let Simeon be the scribe, and keep all our 
accounts ; the Secretary and Treasurer of the 
Independent Lodge of Blue Ribbons,” cried 
George. 

And the motion was carried, while the good 
feeling and earnest thought of the few who were 
gathered together, was fuel that builded a fire in 
the town of Hyde, whose flames reached even the 
mountain tops on either side, and not an individ- 
ual within a radius of six miles, who did not hear 
of Simeon Eastman’s deliverance from alcohol, 
and the new order whose weekly meetings were 
to be held in the school house ; the I. L. 0. B. R. 

After the election of officers, and the lull in 
affairs which followed the clearing up of the 
table, Mrs. Chubbuck proposed music from 
Janey’s violin. The little girl hardly felt equal, 
for never before in all -her life had she seen a 
merry making like this ; but, reassured by Jede~ 
diah, who selected a seat in one corner for her, 


BLUE RIBBONS, 


203 


upon a low stool — which she seemed to prefer to 
anything else — she took courage. Her music 
was acceptable, and her performance on one string 
instead of four, a noticeable one. 

It took her a little longer to lose herself with 
all these eyes upon her, and the notes were at 
lirst like the chirping of young birds in a nestf, 
the flutter of wings over them, the cooing and 
coaxing of a mother robin, who tempted her dar- 
lings to try their wings, and after a time, when 
Janey’ s dark eyes grew lustrous, and her fingers 
moved as if by magic, the brood of birds took 
courage, and with plumed wings, mother and 
younglings, sailed boldly forth and sang. United 
throats trilled harmoniously ; warbled sweetness 
filled the dwelling, and every sound, save those 
which Janey drew forth, was hushed into a telling 
silence. The people breathed as if half afraid ; 
and when at last the birds came back, their music 
ran into muffled notes, as one by one they crept 
within the time-worn box, and with the last note 
of peace to their rest that fell on listening ears, 
Janey dropped her bow, also her eyes, and sat 
quite still, as if afraid. 

The mothers and fathers of Hyde said, “ Oh ! 
how beautiful,” and wonder sat on their faces, 
which rose from their very hearts, Janey’s music 
touched their souls. 


CHAPTER XII. 



E must have it all straight,’’ said George 
to Simeon ; “ I want to survey and make 
a map of this property for you, before 
you pay the Deacon a cent. Make the survey, 
at any rate ; the map making can be deferred if* 
you desire.” 

“ I would like to give him the money, and get 
rid of the thought of indebtedness. I can hardly 
wait,” said Simeon. 

“ I ought, really, to have a reliable transit to 
do the work with ; this old one I have is, I fear, 
inaccurate.” 

“ What do they cost, Mr. Bean 

‘ ‘ Cost ? oh ! they cost more than I shall save in 
ten years at the rate I go on. I can now get a 
good one in the city for fifty dollars, a surveyor 
of western railroads having died and left it to be 
sold as part of his estate. ’’ 

“Well, we will wait a little, if you say so,” 
said Simeon, “I have half a mind to get the 
transit you speak of. Do you think I could ever 
learn to use it ?” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


205 


“Of course you can ; it will be just the thing for 
you to do.” 

“Let me ask my wife,’’ and Simeon went to 
interview Belinda ; returning placed fifty dollars 
in George’s hand. 

“ You get the transit ; I can easily make up this 
amount for the Deacon by the time we are ready.” 

George’s delight knew no bounds, and with his 
new friend Jedediah, the trip to the city and 
purchase were made ; and no king could have 
looked at a coveted crown with more delight than 
George at the transit. “ It will be just as well for 
me as if it were all my own,” he said. 

Jedediah was a pleasant companion for George. 
His quick and ready perception, his honest ap- 
preciation of his sterling qualities rendered him a 
near and dear friend ; and now that an arrange- 
ment had been effected whereby George was to 
instruct him in mathematics, there was a pleasant 
prospect before them both. 

“I shall be your first lieutenant,” said the 
young man, as together they talked of the survey 
to be made of Simeon’s land, and also the acres 
which Rachel and her husband were to pur- 
chase. 

“Yes, sir, I shall be the captain, and you the 
best kind of a helper ; a first lieutemant, but that 


206 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


is not your title, you know. Simeon is entitled 
to the name by virtue of inheritance, as well as 
soldierly bearing. Let me see what is appropriate 
to you. 

Jed. appears to fit you well. I think that is the 
proper cognomen ; albeit, it is a common title. 
Nevertheless it has a sort of true ring about it, 
and Jed it shall be.” 

“Just as you say, Professor ; but here comes 
one of nature’s noble specimens,” and they went 
over a thank-you-ma’am, which caused George 
to hold fast to the transit, and holding up the 
horse for a momentary stop on level ground, both 
saluted Deacon Rayne, who was approaching on 
foot from an opposite direction. 

George lifted his hat clear from his head and 
swung it aloft. 

“Ah! Deacon, here we are; science has tri- 
umphed, and now I shall be well fitted to measure 
all the estates in Hyde. You will, of course, 
want a survey of your territory, and a correct 
map, well lettered, for future reference.” 

“ H’m,” growled the Deacon, “what do you 
call that thing ?” 

“ A surveyor’s transit, a most valuable acquisi- 
tian to me. It is an instrument which consists of 
a telescope which revolves in a vertical plane on a 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


207 


horizontal axis combined .with a compass ; an in- 
valuable help in running lines, observing bear- 
ings, horizontal angles, &c., &c., also an aid in 
the prosecution of a celestial search. I hope you 
will give me a job right away.” 

“H’m, I guess I can measure all I’ve got to 
measure with a ten-foot pole. I hain’t no use for 
things that stretch the truth, and make a mus- 
keeter look like an elephant. I’ve got along 
without any of ’em, and it’s a poor time to begin 
now. I think you’d do better teachin’ school, 
than you will travellin’ around with one o’ them 
exaggeratin’ things.” 

“Your caustic contravention of my design to 
perpetrate a warranted kindness for you, is be- 
yond the conception of an ordinary mind. Dea- 
con Rayne, your superabundant zeal in behalf of 
an educative scheme, whereby the juveniles of 
Hyde may profit during the period of their abdo- 
lesence, should not abate in behalf of those, who 
like yourself, stand upon the meridian of years. 
I am surprised.” 

“Well, well,” and the Deacon shuffled uneas- 
ily from one side to the other; “Ihaint no use 
for all these new contrivances, goin’ ’round tellin’ 
folks’ fortins, or tryin’ to by pawin’ their heads 
over, and squintin’ up one eye to look through a 


208 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


long glass up to the clouds or onto a rail fence. 
Good afternoon,” and he passed on, leaving Jed- 
ediah convulsed with laughter, and George longing 
to scream aloud, which lie did when they were 
fairly beyond hearing. “Poor old fool,” he said, 
“ he knows so little that it really hurts him to 
think about it.” 

“A new thought frightens him,” said Jed. 

“ Yes, still his offense after all is made menial 
by his ignorance ; see to it, young man, that you be 
not less pardonable than he, there is on your part 
no natural excuse for evading the truth. Deacon 
Rayne never will forget the visit of our phreno- 
logical friend, Prof. Rathbun; he does forget, 
however, that the Bible enjoins the truth upon 
us, and that if our heads be cut off by it, we must 
let them go. But here we are at the saw-mill.” 

Simeon had seen them, and was waiting smil- 
ingly for their near approach. 

“ Here is the protege that I was authorized to 
deliver into your hands, although, since activity 
is conducive to life, it will be highly necessary 
that I shall make practical demonstration of it’s 
worth whenever a job of surveying comes to 
hand.” 

“A pretty good speech,” said Simeon, “but 
do not be in such a hurry to deliver your baggage. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


209 


The transit is yours, and you have paid me for it 
a thousand times over.” 

“ Ye Gods,” said George, looking bewildered. 

“I mean it,” continued Simeon, “ drive right 
along,” and he turned to go into the saw-mill. 

“ But see here, old fellow, you are a little too 
fast ; I feel strangely at this turn in affairs.” 

“ You cannot beat me there. You have caused 
me more strange feelings than I can ever bring to 
you. The transit is yours, and I command you 
to go home.” 

They started along, and George sat as silent as 
a stone. Jed saw a tear in his eye and said not a 
word until they reached Mrs. Chubbuck’s. Then, 
clambering out of the wagon with the box in his 
hand which held the instrument, he called : 

“ Bring in the tripod, Jed., and we will set 
him up,” and entered the house singing: “The 
day of jubilee has come.” 

“ Aye,” said Rachel, who hurried forward at 
the sound of his voice, “aye, George, so it has ; 
but what has ye got there ; a dog’s coffin ?” 

“ Oh, Rachel of the wilderness ! the blessing of 
the Lord has fallen upon me ; I am covered with 
kindness. I am rich ! rich ! rich !” 

“ What is ye goin’ to do wi’ the three-leggeted 
thing ye’s got V’ 


210 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“Wait a moment, my dear sister; wait, and 
we shall see what we shall see,” and throwing his 
hat upon the floor, he proceeded to arrange it. 

Mrs. Chubbuck and Violet were busy with 
spreading hens’ feathers for drying, on a table in 
the little back room. 

“ There ! something new’s up,’’ said the good 
woman, “ we’d better lay a paper over these 
feathers, and put flats on two corners to hold it 
down. George’ll have every door in the house 
opened in just three minits ; I wonder what he 
has got. Did you ever see such a rumpus 
as them two — George and Rachel — will cut up. 
They act enough alike to be twins, and I’ll bet a 
dollar they’d quarrel ef they lived together, both 
of ’em so odd ; but then their hearts is white as 
snow ; that makes up for all the breezes. I don’t 
believe I could stand it six months steady 
through ; I feel half crazy now, sometimes,” and 
the last sentence had hardly escaped her lips, 
when slam went the kitchen door, opening and 
shutting in a twinkling, and out shot George, 
calling, “mother of Charity, where art thou ?” 

“Here I be,” was the reply, “what on earth’s 
the matter ?” 

“ Come and see, come, flower-pot, come.” 

“ You act as if you was tickled all but to death,” 
and Mrs. Chubbuck smiled. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


211 


“Come on, come on,” interposed Rachel, 
“ come and see the auld three-leggeted man wi’ a 
round glass top for a head like the face o’ a 
watch, wi’ one pinter, an’ the tall brass ’at wi’ 
glass at one end an’ a hole at t’other, that he 
wears above his head instead o’ on it, an’ crost- 
ways at that. Come. I say, and gie yourself a 
peek through the long queer winder o’ auld 
three-leggety ’ s hat. If he walks he’ll hae to gie a 
dot and two steps instead o’ the one. Oh, dear ! 
dear! Blue Ribbons has done the graat thing,” 
and she laughed long and loud. 

“Here it is,” said George, triumphantly, “a 
transit-compass, see what a beauty ! let me turn 
the telescope outward, where you can have a 
good chance to look through it clear over to the 
lasting hills,” and mother Charity peered into the 
distance. 

“ Why, it’s a good deal like that old telescope 
you’ve had ; where did you get it ?” 

“ It is built upon an improved plan and is much 
more serviceable than the old instrument, although 
that would be better than nothing, to be sure. 
This is a perfect God-send to me, and I am in an 
ecstacy of feeling over it. It is the gift of Simeon. ” 

Astonishment was depicted on all their faces, 
and Mrs. Chubbuck’s sensible conclusion that he 


212 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


had done just right was the well indorsed opinion 
not only of the inmates of “Apple Rest,” but 
those to whose ears the news drifted. Simeon 
would have preferred it kept a secret ; but George 
decided, and “honor to whom honor is due,” was 
his unchanging motto. 

The Lieutenant grew daily bolder and more 
promising, and the days of work and comfort 
sped by his door well heeded and appreciated. 

It took only a week or two to make the needed 
survey, and as George half suspected, another of 
the Deacon’s small meanesses was disclosed. 

Simeon thought he knew the boundaries of the 
farm, and he did know what he bargained for ; 
but when the deed came to light, and the matter 
of boundary lines especially sought after, it was 
discovered that either Simeon’s memory was at 
fault, or the Deacon (who had caused the paper 
to be drawn) had forgotten the extent of territory. 

“ Quite a difference,” said George, “ it makes a 
change of about two and a half acres, this taking 
a slice from three sides.” 

Simeon was wroth with anger at first, and mut- 
tered a curse against the Deacon. 

“Hold on,” said George, “ spit it all out to your- 
self, and then keep cool and see a little fun. You 
will not be cheated. I can fix it.” 


BLUE BIBBOXS. 213 

“ I see little fun in it; the mean, small-souled, 
contemptible, cowardly old fool ! he needs a 
thrashing.” 

“Hold on, I say,” cried George; “remember 
that the true wisdom is to keep a steady course, 
and we shall get to the windward, and drive the 
Deacon to the shore as easy as rolling off a log.” 

It was a grim smile that flitted past Simeon as 
he stood there in his wrath, which only made his 
handsome face and dark eyes strikingly perfect 
in their expressive beauty. 

“I leave the whole thing to you, Mr. Bean. I 
believe if I ever get into Heaven it will be because 
of your help. I am not enough of a Christian to 
bear such meanness as this. I feel like shaking 
the very life out of Melancthon. His position as 
a Deacon ought to be criticised. I wish I could 
feel honest in joining the church, and push him 
out of it. He has no right there.” 

“ Look out there, Simeon, you will run against 
the stump of erroneous judgment ; remember that 
you have suffered almost death at the hands of 
non-appreciation and harsh judgment.” 

“ I will, Mr. Bean, and also take myself out of 
your way,” and he strode toward the house with 
emphasis in the touch of his heel, which clicked 
sharply at each step. 


214 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“He is a noble fellow,” murmured George. 
“ His Hiawathian strides are symbolic of the man 
within — fit for a President ” — and singing aloud, 
“Roll swifter round, ye wheels of time,” he pur- 
sued his journey homeward, and the thread of his 
thought, settling at last the problem with the ma- 
turation of a plan to get the truth, the whole 
truth, out of the Deacon’s own mouth. 

“Out of his own mouth shall he be condemned,” 
and Rachel sprang to the door as usual. 

“What’s gone awry wi’ ye? George knaws 
there’s summat bakkads.” 

“The world in general,” he replied; “but 
when am I to survey your territory ?” 

“Aye, that’s a graat thowt to rise on us. I’se 
waated three long daily s fur ye to speak it ; but 
wi’ the school an’ all, I hardly see how ye can do 
all that’s waiintin’ o’ ye.” 

“ I will begin it to-morrow. Take my dinner 
to school in a basket, and work at noon with the 
help of Jed., who holds the target, makes stakes 
and drives them, &o.” 

“Aye, that’ll be good; and what’s the cost o’ 
all this?” 

‘ ‘ I cannot give an entirely correct estimate un- 
til I ascertain the amount of time consumed, and 
the worth of labor. Plenty of time for that.” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


215 


“ George, seat thyself while I tells ye just what 
I thinks about ye and with her limbs crossed, 
and hands clasped over them, the look of deep 
feeling, mingled with that of a settled conviction 
covered her face — her blue and expressive eyes 
looked into his, and she began, 

“ George, I call you the fagendedest feller I’se 
ever seen — the best heart, the whitest sperrit ; ye 
has your wings for ever an’ aye a heatin’ agin 
the door o’ the cage, to let out some good an’ 
generous feeling as gathers there ; but in all busi- 
ness matters ye has a shack ly kind o’ way, an’ 
many’s the dollar ye’ll earn to send aw a’ fra’ 
yourself an’ off fur the good o’ others. 

“Look ye, George, it is only the shiffin’ waay 
ye has a doin’ things, as will keep ye a poor man ; 
an’ more nor this, the great knowledge ye lias 
ought fur to taake ye where I know well it waynt 
— while time ye motit be i’college bred lads, a 
helpin’ the breedin’; why j T e knows ten to the one 
o’ that perfessin feller as feels the heads o’ the 
folks, an’ ye’ll never rattle in your pocket half 
way, nor quarter the dollars he’ll get.” 

“I will not say you are wrong, my dear sister, 
but I shall have the supreme satisfaction of know- 
ing that I have not abused the innate love for my 
fellow man. I shall live and die with unstained 


216 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


hands. No crying children shall send their voices 
after me, haunting me for the> bread I took from 
their mouths in an ungodly warfare; the traffic 
in hearts I will have no share in.” 

“ Aye, that’s all true enough ; but, see here, ye 
forget that its robbery all the same to your own 
needy self, if ye throws out the dollars ye ought to 
keep. God helps the man as helps himself ; an’, 
ye must remember that we’se all but growed up 
childer ; an’, now, if my gells never walked by 
themselves, how do ye think they’d get on ? 
Crutches is good, but whole legs is better, an’ 
you’se as apt to tug an’ scramble along, pullin’ 
many a one after ye, as able to walk as you is, an’ 
that’s poor kind o’ charity ; its but a waste o’ God 
himself, fur ye has right to keep wood enough 
to start your fire. I say, George, ye lias need 
o’ bein’ temperate in doin’ good. God lets out 
the warm sun, an’ he throws down the rain, but 
he never plowt up a field, or sowed a bit o’ a tur- 
nip or taiiters. What did he gie ns our arms an’ 
legs, our thowts an’ feelins, if it isn’t expected as 
we’ll be each o’ us a man an’ a woman ? Look 
out, I tell ye ; one o’ these days ye’ll waant a 
hoame, an’ ye owt to have it. Help them as is 
willin’ to do tlieirselves a bit o’ a good, an’ leave 
the gowks an’ the tree-toads to rot in the woods. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


217 


I say, George, I tells ye true — I ltnaaws I 
does.” 

“Well,” replied George, “I think there may 
be some truth in your remarks ; at any rate it is a 
good sermon. 1 only wish you had been envi- 
roned with advantages that would have rendered 
your intellectual development what it might and 
ought to have been. Your mixture of English, 
Scotch and American words is to me a mystery.” 

“Doan’t be a makin’ fun o’ me, George; I tells 
ye just how it is, mi feytlier was a Yorkshire man, 
the mother a Scottish lassie, an’ that mixt me up 
a good deal; but when I was wi’ the Lanky’s, in 
auld Hingland, I did well ; then, when we found 
America, I tried to make summat out o’ my gab, 
and here I’s not one nor tother, but a bit o’ all.” 

“Your husband talks somewhat differently.” 

“ Aye, John is a double an’ twisted Yorkshire- 
man, and he haulds to it well. The gells, Ruth 
and Nancy, talks to us both, an’ tries to fix over 
the words. Nancy bothers the most ; she’s bound 
to be fine ; but I reckon its little the change she’ll 
work ; but the little cot in the woods is what most 
fills me now. I waiint a big chimney to it, for 
houses needs throats as well as folks; there’s a 
deal o’ misery tlirowed out wi’ the flame o’ a fire, 
and all as goes out is that much saved to blood 
10 


218 


BLUE BIBB0NS. 


an’ stomach; an’ I tells ye, George, there’s too 
much that we doesn’t know about these beautiful 
bodies we’se got — they owt to be fit fur the best o’ 
souls to stay in while a hundred years — and here 
comes John ’Ardy wi’ letters an’ the papers.” 

“There beant naw paper — just hoanly line spat- 
tit letter, owd ’ooman ; ye mout think the maitle 
mon setted hon hit,” spoke John, in his low, heavy 
undertone, which savored often of a deep growl. 

“Ye think ye’s been for nawt ; but gie me the 
letter, John— it mout be news betther nor you 
think,” and she broke the seal — going near the 
window to read it. 

The girls and John, waiting to hear its contents, 
were doomed with a surprise, for she had only 
read the first three lines, when she threw it down, 
and commenced walking up and down the floor, 
wringing her hands, and crying aloud : 

. 1 ‘ Oh ! dear ! dear ! dear ! woe an’ misery, an’ I 
wish all the courts o’ chancery was dead, and we 
was dead, an’ had never been a born, oh ! dear ! 
dear 1” 

Ruth picked up the letter and thrust it into her 
pocket, trying in vain to soothe her mother, who 
only made greater moan and, at last, she said to 
her, in a positive way : 

“Mother, seat yourself ; can you forget that 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


219 


you are in other folks’ house ? you craze everybody 
— you show less sense than a child ; here, we have 
no time to find out what all this rumpus is about. 
Give us time to read the letter, will ye?” 

“We bean’t able fur to help thee moarn agean 
we finds owt,” said John. 

Rachel stopped as suddenly as if an arrow had 
hit her and, falling on to the floor sat, doubled up, 
with her head in her hands. “Read it,” she said. 

Ruth read slowly and carefully then, handing 
it to her father said, naively : 

“What a woman is this mother of ours! the 
letter says only good news. All there is to it we 
have to lay claim to 600 pounds of good money. 
What ails thee, mother?” and she looked at the 
woman who, like a human ball, sat still on the 
floor, and all, including George, burst into a hearty 
laugh, which brought her to her feet. 

• “Oh! dear! dear!” she cried; “I say its no 
need we has now o’ these dollars, an’ I waant not 
the trouble ; but stop ! George’ll do the writin’ fur 
us; will ye, George?” 

“Certainly,” he replied; “I’ll do the business 
and take the money if you feel so badly.” 

“It’s the fuss, the botherin’ I thowt about; an’ 
if it can be done wi no worritin’, I’ll moan no 
more. Janey, love, come an’ fiddle; I say we’ll 


220 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


bake a good dinner in the big hoven, when its 
done, an’ gie a bit o’ good cheer. Janey get the 
fiddle;” and the smile which sat upon her face 
was as bright as if she had never made a moan; 
while Nancy, provoked at her, looked sullenly 
down, and Ruth, with a naive expression, which 
revealed her perfect acquaintance with all her 
mother’s moods, resumed her knitting, and John 
sat covered with the heavy silence, which became 
him well. 

“Very little lie has to say,” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck; “but when he does speak, it’s like a voice 
of thunder rolling out of a cave.” 

This remarkable woman was a stranger to her- 
self, and, outside of her legitimate sphere, as 
helpless as an infant. The presence of an ordi- 
nary care distracted her. “The idea,” said 
Millie, “of crying because she had to claim a 
little property, — write two or three letters. She 
is ridiculous. ” 

“Millie Dean, judge not,” w’as the verdict of 
sweet Violet. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


T’S oh! dear, dear, if mother gets sorry; 
an’ oh! dear, dear, if she’s tickled the 
same; don’t ye think she’s a funny one?” 
said Janey, as she wiped the dishes while "Violet 
washed them. 

“I think she is a dear, good mother; and I 
love her very much.” 

“I’seglad said Janey,” looking wonders, “for 
Nancy says none’ 11 like her, wi’ her cuttin’ up, 
an’ she scolds an’ scolds, and makes me cry; she 
telled me yesterday she’d not go to school a bit 
until we had new frocks ; an’ our frocks is good, 
don’t ye think so?” 

“ Certainly they are ; you look as neat as a pin, 
when you have the little white rutf on your neck, 
and a clean apron on. Little girls only need to 
be dressed plain and neat, especially when they 
have such nice black curls as j^ours.” 

“ Do ye like the curls Violet? Jed telled me he 
likes ’em more nor a little; ain’t he a beautiful 
lad? an’ don’t ye love him well? I does. You 
has curls too ; yellow ones. ” 

The bright blood ran over the face pf the sweet. 



222 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


girl, leaving a spot of carmine on either cheek, as 
if to say, she does, she does. 

“I think he is very nice; he is a right good 
friend of yours, isn’t he?” 

“Aye, that he be, an’ I telled him as how I 
loved you the best, an’ you loved me. I telled 
him that, an’ all about the tuckin’ me up in the 
bed, and the kiss ye gives me too; an’ he looked 
his eyes wide open, an’ he said : 

“ ‘She is a beautiful Violet, you think.’ 

“An’ I telled him aye, ye was, an’ then for 
fraid of his thinkin’ ye might gie me too much 
love, nor think him good, I said ‘ she loves ye 
well as Janey,’ an’ he says up as quick an’ good, 
‘I hope she does;’ an’ then he went a thinkin’ 
an’ I thinkin’, an’ I guess he was fraid if you 
don’t like him. Ain’t ye glad I said the words?” 

“Oh! Janey, my child, I never told you so.” 

“Haw, I knows it; but ye see I thawt it out 
myself, an’ I knows it feels good for folks to be 
loved ; that’s all. Ye can’t love feyther, can ye? 
he’s that big an’ homely, but he’s good, an’ I 
likes to ride in his arms all over. He’s a strong 
feyther ; but ye couldn’t love him like the bright- 
eyed lad, could ye? I hae seen ye look so sweet 
at Jed.” 

“ Why not ? he is a very good man ; yes, I like 
him well,” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


223 


Aye, ye likes him well ; but not so strong as ye 
could like the lad, and the artless child, with her 
sacred intuition, had divined the secret which not 
even Millie knew. “Dear little heart,” said 
Violet, as she kissed the broad forehead which 
lay half covered under the wandering curls. Her 
words had set Violet dreaming with her eyes far 
away, looking at pictures full of promise, whose 
warm bright colorings woke at the touch of a ten- 
der hand ; yes, to herself and the sky she owned 
it, Jed’s handsome face lay mirrored in her heart, 
his voice was a presence that her love invoked, 
and his bold, fearless ways, combined with the 
open sympathy of his manly nature, rendered 
him her ideal of all that was manly and true, and 
she gave him freely her best and purest affections ; 
loved him without stint, but her heart alone was 
her confessional, and no word had passed between 
them. Strange that Janey should think of it all, 
and yet, Violet thought to herself, the child does 
not know what she knows; her soul reads mine, and 
she hears the music but realizes not earthly ren- 
dering, and hand in hand with thought, two souls 
went out to sea ; Janey in the bark of her own 
artless nature, the birch canoe of young and fear- 
less thought, and Violet in the boat of love’s 
mystery, built of whitest wood, and set with sails 


224 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


of drifted snow, Jed with the tiller in his hand, 
and she by his side. 

“ There is enough to do, and always is,” said 
Mrs. Chubb uck, “whether we cook for two or 
ten, and I do hate to ask you to get the supper 
to-night; but I have an object in going over to 
the Circle. They meet at Rayne’s, and his wife, 
poor soul, is always so glad to see me. I ought 
to go, and I’m bound Ruth shall go somewhere ; 
she’ll have work enough when the house is ready, 
good girl. Nancy says she’ll go if her mother 
stays at home, and I guess she will, for she’s got 
a headache and gene to bed. Millie says she 
shan’t go, and leave you.” 

“I had much rather she would,” replied Vio- 
let, “ Janey and I will have a nice time. Yes, 
Millie Dean must go and she did, for Violet’s 
pleas were irresistible, no matter how her own 
mind ran. 

“ I’se not sorry they’se gone,” said Janey, “for 
Jed is cornin’ over, an’ we’ll hae a good time. 
He telled me he’d come, an’ the grammar man, so 
mother says, is goin’ to be over at Simin’s all the 
evenin’ workin’ on the figgers for him.” 

Violet’s heart gave a jump, leaped into her 
throat it seemed to her, and she was trying hard 
to swallow it, thereby forcing it back to its place 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


225 


in her breast, when a quick step was heard on the 
verandah ; a moment more, and the subject of 
Janey’s thought entered. 

“ All alone ?” he said inquiringly. 

“Aye,” replied Janey, shaking her curls and 
laughing merrily ; u an’ we’se glad, too, fur its a 
betther time we’ll hae to ourselves ; here is the 
chair for you close b.y the fire, an’ Violit’ s beside 
of it, an’ Janey’s stool just where she likes it best. 
May I play the fiddle V ’ 

“Oh, indeed you may; we all of us love the 
fiddle, as well as the player.” 

“An’ ye likes Violit an’ Janey best o’ all, I 
telled her so, an all about what I said, as Janey 
an’ Violit loved ye well,” and with a bright 
glance, the unconscious beauty ran for the box, 
which she kept in its green blanket and hidden 
from sight. 

Two hands met each other in a silent pressure, 
and Jed had only time to say, “Is it true, my 
darling 1 can you say it ? you are precious to me, 
the flower that I love best,” and Janey entered 
with her treasure. 

Tears filled Violet’s eyes, and stood like pure 
water in a crystal fountain, reflecting myriad 
shapes unseen, and down in her heart lay silent 
and still, love’s treasure trove ; a gem of purity in 


226 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


the unsullied setting of her endearment. For the 
first time in his life, Jed felt the pressure of the 
tide, which threw at his feet, as it were, pearls 
from the depths of an ocean, delineated by a 
human soul. The flush on her cheeks, and above 
all the flame in her soulful eyes, that rose steadily 
with her thought, enabled him to read volumes, 
which were more beautifully rendered than if 
born of words, while his hand still held tightly 
her own, and his heart throbbed manfully in his 
breast. If he could only tell her of himself, of 
the image that had lain an ever present picture 
before him since their first meeting ; how he had 
longed, yet dared not by word or sign reveal his 
thought until now, emboldened by Janey’s truth- 
ful reading, he asked her love, and received the 
silent and comprehensive answer. 

Janey played as if she knew the song he sang to 
his heart and Violet’s ; the violin told it all, its 
birds sang from the sweet beginning, clear to the 
glorious finale, and they drank in the music as 
nectar, held to their lips, which fed their souls to 
a delicious repleteness. The playing, weird and 
sweet and tremulous, was the touch of an artist, 
the last, long, lingering touch to a well -beloved 
picture, one which was roseate with reality, and 
breathing a life belonging to a conscious entity. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


227 


Ah ! this was glorious dreaming, lost yet never 
more naturally found than now, the past merged 
in the now, ran on to the birth of the future, 
which compared with the present, was the per- 
fectly unfolded rose, born of the bud of to-day. 

Wrapt in each other and what before them lay, 
the hours sped on, and still young Janey played, 
until really wondering at the long continued 
silence, she stilled her bow, and said : 

“ We’se too still an’ happy, isn’t we? Ye bet- 
ter talk a little, Janey has played the tongues 
away; they lose theirselves in the fiddle.” Foot- 
steps sounded near, and a breath from the world 
came in, so hearts shut quietly and closely each 
sacred door, and when Jed said u good night,” he 
whispered to Violet: “We will take a ride to- 
morrow.” 

She bowed, and threw over him the mantle of 
her smile, then crept to her room and laid her 
fair young head upon a dream-filled pillow beside 
Millie’s, but told no word of her new-born trust. 

Many hands make light work, and there was 
no lack of help to rais€*the frame and shapen, in 
accordance with Rachel’s desire, their home. 

It was built upon the edge of the wood, just 
near the brook, whose ending we found long ago 
in a basin of stone at Mrs. Chubbuck’s back door. 


228 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


and the delight of the Hardy’s knew no bounds 
when this apparently simple fact became patent 
to them. 

“Oh!” cried Janey, “its a reglar river, it is, 
an’ wi’ the spring at one side, an’ this at tother, 
waynt we be grand uns.” 

“I can’t see anything so dretful ’cute in that 
brook,” said Mrs. Cliubbuck ; “but then every- 
body’s blessin’s are what they feel, and it’s as 
true as preachin’, that I should build a little far- 
ther away; they reckon on ducks and geese, but 
the skunk part of it they forget. I guess they’ll 
have hard work to get rich on ducks and geese ; 
but everybody to their notion.” 

The house itself was constructed solidly, and 
peculiarly also ; no one would expect Rgchel to 
take pattern from any one else, “ and if they did 
they’d be disappointed.” Mother Charity’s ver- 
dict; and although John Hardy was a man of 
power, he paid great deference to his wife’s opin- 
ion ; yes, more the respect which she must and 
would have, and when sometimes she broached a 
new and consequently strange idea; for prone we 
are to shrink from that to which we are unaccus- 
tomed, and he objected or spol>e disparagingly, 
it had no weight with Rachel. She knew well 
that what could be done, would be, and moved 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


229 


right on, sometimes not even replying to his re- 
marks ; and when the building of the house was 
on hand her ideas, and not his, were those which 
governed ; at which the builders marvelled greatly, 
which she wefl knew, and it pleased her to see 
them open their eyes in wonder at the orders she 
gave. 

“ We’se to have it builded up right an’ strong, 
an’ it’s no plaster at all I waants, an’ none we’se 
to have.’' 

After the frame was raised, she insisted on 
boarding it tightly, and then discarded two or 
three loads of shingles that were brought, because 
of their poor quality. George ventured to sug- 
gest clap-boarding, to which she objected at once. 

u JSTay, nay, George; I say I waants good pure 
shingles, its more like thatchwork, I like it bet- 
ther.” And then when all was ready for the in- 
side work, she made great ado, and talked long 
and loud to try and convert the people to her 
idea of “ stuffing,” as she called it. Few agreed ’ 
with her, but loads of tan-bark were brought, 
and the structure stuffed as she desired, the bark 
being packed in between the inside and outside 
sheathings ; and the wainscoting, which was put 
on at a height of three feet about the rooms, was 
something beautiful and uniqe, being made of yeb 


230 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


low pine, with now and then a strip of ash that 
brightened and gave it character ; the floors were 
of hard wood, and when all was complete, “Thej 
must be hoiled,” said John, “ elseth’ owd ’ooman 
weant niver come in wi’ us, she loves things done 
fur to staay, an’ the ’ouse’ll last longer nor we 
uns.” 

Last, but not least, came the building of an 
oven in the forest near, which Rachel insisted was 
something not to be dispensed with. The one 
they had in the West was the pattern, and every- 
thing worked in their favor, for the solid founda- 
tion of stone necessary was waiting their use. 

“ This way,” said Rachel, hurrying on through 
chips, shavings and stones with a half dozen peo- 
ple after her, trying in vain to keep pace with her 
rapid steps; “here, here it is, the very feller we 
waants for the bottom o’ the hoven, come on John 
’ Ardy.” 

“Sure enough,” said Violet, who was always 
at Rachel’s right hand, and in this matter as in- 
terested as Jed, who was helping daily, doing 
whatever he could 

“Aye! this is just what’s waanted ; now build 
up an’ over it, an’ when the box o’ stone is done, 
put another wall roun’ the outside, leavin’ room 
fur to make fire on the three sides o’ the hoven, 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


231 


as well as in it ; an’ big boulders for dooars we 
wants to keep heat all in.” 

“Laugh ye men o’ Hyde; but them does best 
who laughs last, an’ when it’s done not one o’ ye 
but shall eat the roast pig, an’ the turkey an’ the 
bread as we’ll bake in it ; go ahead now, J ohn 
’Ardy’ll tell the rest,” and off she started, with 
“Come Jed! come Vilit! 1’se goin’ home, I’se 
tired. ” 

The advent of the Hardy’s in Hyde might well 
be compared with the entrance of a right royal 
family, covered with gold lace and titles, into one 
of the smallest of New England cities to-day. 
Rachel and Janey were the chief attractions, and 
love was lavished on the little girl as freely as 
comments on the mother, who challenged the 
opinions of all, and openly and freely worked her 
way with an entire disregard to “what will they 
think and say,” something remarkable then, as 
now, creating the same ripple of wonder and care- 
less laugh among country rustics, that they them- 
selves would create in fashionable society ; and 
rather than seek to avoid her, they improved all 
opportunities to acquaint themselves with her 
peculiarities. She greeted them kindly, went to 
the sewing circle “to gie them a bit o’ a joke,” 
she said. Nancy added, “To make yourself 


232 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


ridiculous and a laughing-stock ; I wish you could 
keep your head out of other people’s business.” 
But her mother answered, 

“Hold thy silly tongue, lass;' ye has yet to 
learn I’se not to be held by thy foolishness. I 
hae a way o’ mi own, an’ if they chooses to make 
sport o’ it, then they’ll hae a chance ; to the circle 
I goes.” 

Nancy was unlike the rest, and it was a marvel, 
that with her primitive surroundings in the forest 
home, she should bring with her an element that 
■was exactly suited to the life which differed so 
entirely from that of the hardy settlers. Restless 
and dissatisfied she must have been, if, in the 
wilderness, the customs of another section of the 
states filled her mind’s eye; her language was 
pure, and savored little of the inheritance which 
blent entirely with Janey’s utterances, and tinc- 
tured Ruth’s words with its accent. 

To Ruth all the care and the burdens of the 
days, as they came, would be given ; and while 
there might, yes must be longings whose unful- 
filled requirements would cause the lines in her 
face to grow deeper, she would not suffer more 
than Nancy, perhaps not as much, since her spirit 
was a peace to herself continually. She was a 
ready helper, a willing and ambitious worker, 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


233 


and however much of care and work was brought, 
her soul would sing the song of contentment. 
The difference in the two natures was striking, 
and kept one thinking of the gulf that lay be- 
tween them ; the tie of consanguinity revealing 
no likeness between the two, and Ruth was to 
Nancy, not a sister, but a mother, full of con- 
sideration, and ever endeavoring to shapen in a 
pleasing mold the incongruities which her sister 
looked upon as calamity. 

Nancy gave Ruth little pay for her pains and 
care; still motherly patience never gave out, and 
with a purpose that shone steadily on through 
all her acts, like a light swung over the sea, she 
was faithful to every duty. Sometimes, when 
there was extra work on hand, and with the care 
of it all, “at her heels,” as Mrs. Chubbuck ex- 
pressed it, her mother kept switching her off the 
track. Ruth came to places where she stood 
still, and delivered a strong lecture to both Nancy 
and her mother, which was only a matter of com- 
mendation, a praiseworthy act on the part of the 
good and faithful heart* whose life was filled to 
overflowing. Her mother, at such times, recog- 
nized the justice of the position she took, and 
would say, “ Aye, Ruthy love, ye do hae a hard 
time; I’ll go seat myseT out o’ your way,” 


234 BLUE RIBBONS. 

Nancy rebelled, as of course she must with her 
nature, and threw into the face of her best friend 
the gravel of her discontent. Ruth stood firmly, 
however, and at last tears came to her sister’s re- 
lief, and she would inevitably go from her pres- 
ence crying, and declaring that nobody loved her, 
and death was better than life'; while Ruth, turn- 
ing to her work, thought, that is the only way 
for Nancy, now she will feel better after the storm, 
and run along with a steadier gait for awhile, and 
while she would fain have it different, she never- 
theless accepted what must be, with good grace 
and quiet strength, belonging to a superior mind 
and well balanced organization. 

Janey rarely received a reprimand, there being 
in her temperament a musical undertone, whose 
voice rose steadily, and with every action min- 
gled sweetness of sound, which rendered her a 
harmonious little helper. Ruth often called her 
a music box — a most appropriate title. 

Hardy’s oven, “strangest idee,” Mrs. Chub- 
buck declared, that she ever “heerd of,” was 
finished, and the people came far and near to be- 
hold the marvel ; the large-throated stone oven, 
with its small straight chimney, finished with a 
top of funnel shaped sheet-iron, that sat like a 
stove-pipe on its head, and was a capital index to 


BLUE BXBB0NS. 


235 


its locality, for through a clearing in the wood it 
became visible from a distance. 

“After 'all,” said Squire Loomis, “that house 
and oven are a great addition to Hyde, and with 
the changes of the years, I will warrant, it's at- 
traction will be greater instead of less. The old 
lady knows what she is about. She is funny, but 
good and smart.” 

Ah ! yes, even Deacon Rayne went to see that 
oven in the wilderness, and before the family 
were settled in their new home, “ Hardy’s Oven” 
claimed not only attention but respect, and by 
common consent the name of the new home. 

“The money makes a bit o’ difference wi’ ’um, 
If we was wi’ out dollars, they’d look wi’ more 
sidelong glances at us, an' though we isn’t dal- 
lackt out they knaaw as we has the dollars to do 
it wi’, an’ so they has a bit o’ a feelin’, not what 
I like neither, such as men howt to gie to each 
other ; still it’s a bit o’ a help, an’ I’ll do as I like, 
an’ tell the truth ; aye, that’s just what I’ll do. 

No one at “Apple Rest” doubted it, the weeks 
of her stay * producing ample proof that her 
thought, which ran in its own peculiar channel, 
must and would give individual expression. 

“I am not going to the city with you,” said 
Nancy, “you needn’t coax nor scold; it makes 


236 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


no difference about the things that’s to be got, 
you will get what you please, and if I went my 
face would be fire, the way you’ll talk.” 

“Nancy stop thy talk — nobody waants ye to 
go ; it was only civil to gie ye an invite, and the 
pay I gets is thy impudent gab ; so much for a 
gell as wasn’t wanted. Thy sisters differ, an’ 
they was welcome born. 

“ I never asked myself into the world,” retorted 
Nancy. 

“ No, I knows it, an’ for mi own ignorance bears 
much from ye; see to it, when years come on, 
that ye be not the mother o’ a girl high headed 
like yorrrself. But who goes to the city wi’ me ? 
Ruth an’ Feyther, an’ who else? 

“I would like to go,” said Violet, “if Millie 
does not object, and take my place, and her eyes 
looked roguishly into the face of her friend, whom 
she well knew would as soon put her hands into 
a hornet’s nest, as go to buy furniture with 
Rachel. She half pitied Nancy, and sometimes 
thought, if she were in her place, she would do 
precisely as she did, in this respect. No! Millie 
had not the courage to face the giggling clerks in 
the city stores. Rachel knew it, and turning 
quickly on her heel, she said, 

“Come Vilit, natural blossom, ye’s not afraid 


feLt?E ftIBBO'N'S. 


237 


of the fun i’ the stores, is ye? I’ll buy ye a pink 
frock, an’ one for Janey an’ Nancy too, poor 
quoloty gell, as has bad time wi’ her caperin’ 
mother.” 

Millie felt the least bit ashamed of the just re- 
buke, and said to herself, “I will go with her; 
who cares if people do laugh ?’ ’ 

Ah! yes, who cares? who does not care, would 
have been more appropriate to each person and 
period, for people of town or city count few who 
could exist without feeling the great necessity for 
the code of the day. All hearts are strung as 
beads on the thread of life, and with simultane- 
ous movements in one direction, the balance of 
our outward selves is kept ; when, however, one 
more inspired than another changes its position 
as a unit, runs off the string, or (which oftener 
occurs) breaks in twain, and falls, to roll away 
by itself in search of something well suited to an 
individual need, no matter how high the aspira- 
tions of the soul, its fellows cry, “lo! the pecu- 
liarities!” so Millie, though miserable for a time, 
was not alone in her lack of self-poise. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


« OLD on one moment, Deacon,” cried 
George to Deacon Rayne, who walked 
before him toward the still, “I have 
something to say to yon.” 

The Deacon stopped, of course, though he had 
come to dread a talk with the Mathematician, as 
a child dreads the tire. 

“ Well,” he said, as George came up to him, 
“tell me what you want to, I’m in a hurry this 
morning ” 

“I will hasten to communicate what I desire. 
It is concerning the territory which Simeon claims 
as his. I am about to do some surveying in that 
vicinity, and desire to act with certainty. Eli 
Perkins’ land is at the north of your possessions 
and Simeon’s ; but is it true that the north line runs 
from the notch in the wood to the old oak known 
as the Giant’s tree?” 

“Yes, yes, that’s right, George; Simeon ought, 
to know enough to tell you where his lines are.” 

“Oh! yes, he thinks he is all right ; but ‘sure 
bind, sure find.’ We cannot be too certain ; well 
the east line is clear enough, because the bound- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


239 


ary is the old turnpike ; but now the south and 
west lines, do they go beyond the old rock at the 
point where they intersect, or is it this side of it 
that they unite ?” 

“You start from the other side of the old rock/’ 

“You intend to say that the south line does 
not terminate this side of the rock.” 

“ I mean to say it goes clear on there to where 
them two poplar trees are standing. He knows 
it.” 

“ Exactly; well, that is all I desire, and in order 
to have it all straight, I will draw up a quit claim 
deed for you to sign when Simeon gets in trim to 
settle with you. You have no objection to my 
drawing it? I will do it as cheap as Bartram.” 

“ I guess I shant object to taking the money, 
nor having the deed drawn when he gets ready. 
I guess you won’t have to hurry.” 

“No; there is plenty of time between this and 
to-morrow morning. I will call on you with the 
quit claim and the money. Appoint the hour, if 
you please/’ 

The Deacon stopped in his tracks ; his hurry 
had passed like a dream from his mind. 

“ What do you mean ?” 

“Exactly what I say, Deacon. I am not balk- 
ing in the track of prevarication. I am about to 


240 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


transact a simple matter of business between yon 
and Simeon, an agent or intermediate friend — a 
sort of mediator. Will nine o’clock suit you 
well?” 

“Yes, yes,” said the Deacon, whose mingled 
wonder and rejoicing rendered the expression of 
his countenance, one which would hardly admit 
of a true delineation. Glad to be the recipient of 
money : really sorry (oh ! spirit of evil that he 
w’as) to be baffled, that his prediction must be 
false ; and over all this, the surprise. How could 
Simeon have got so much money ? Ah ! he was 
not there the night of the donation, no ; and won- 
der of wonders, no one had told him of the thirty 
eagles. Time, which makes all things straight, 
and also reveals secrets, will put it into the head 
of some one to tell it by and by, and straightway 
from human lips the word will run wandering 
down the lines to touch at last the Deacon’s ear, 
and he will incline his head to listen, nod, and 
wink and say, ah! ah! yes, yes; I thought Sim- 
eon was a little smarter n common men. That 
supplementary happening will do our small- 
souled, grey-eyed Deacon a world of good, and 
not a mortal in Hyde feel any bad result from it. 

George was promptly on hand, and carried a 
quit claim deed, all ready for the Deacon to sign, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


241 


predicate on the scrimped pattern of the old 
warrantee, and also a new warrantee deed, dated 
this day. 

“There!” he said, as Deacon Rayne signed 
the quit-claim, and folding the paper, George still 
holding in his hand the roll of bills, put it into 
his pocket; “now, Deacon, here is a clean war- 
rantee deed that you will please sign, and make 
the thing straight.” * 

“Another deed? I don’t want to sign two 
papers for nothin’. That one quit-claim is enough 
for me to swear to.” 

“No objection to giving him this clear deed. 
It is only a true and valid proceeding — amounts 
to the same thing as selling the place anew to 
Simeon.” 

“Hem,” growled the discomfited man, “what 
more, can he want than that there quit-claim? 
You must be a fool.” 

“See here, Deacon, you have signed the quit- 
claim like a man, and you have not as yet received 
the money. Now sign this, and I will pay you 
the money.” 

“I guess you’ll pay me that money, or you’ll 
get what the law can give you. ” 

4 4 Hold on ; keep cool , my dear sir, and let me 
11 


242 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


read this paper, that you may see to it that I have 
the boundaries correct.” 

“The devil and all his imps ! take them bound- 
aries ! give me that money ! keep me here half 
the forenoon, with your nonsense ! 

George put the roll of bills into his pocket and, 
rising, said: 

“I shall not deliver to you three hundred dol- 
lars until such time as you are ready to sign this 
paper.” 

The Deacon raised his hand and, in his anger, 
might have struck him, had not George taken a 
step nearer and, fastening his keen eye upon him, 
in a powerful tone, said : 

“Put down your hand! you need not menace 
me, seeking to turn me from my object, I am not 
afraid of words or blows, and I say once and for 
all, if you will sign this paper I will give you the 
money. You can do as you please.” 

“Go, and take your money !” shouted the Dea- 
con, “and I’ll have you arrested before night,” 

“ I shall certainly have you for company then, 
for by the gods, Deacon Rayne, you are a swind- 
ler !” 

“What do you say ?” 

‘ ‘ I say you are a swindler, and the proof is in my 
pocket.” 


BLTTE RIBBONS. 


“Set down, set down,’’ said the Deacon, who 
knew his opponent too well to believe him guilty 
of a falsehood; “set down and explain this, 
George. I guess I don’t understand.” 

“Very well; the first thing I must do, is to 
read the paper ; will you hear it?” 

“Yes, yes.” 

He finished the reading and put the question: 

“ Is that correct ? Are the boundaries right?” 

“What ails you, George? You’re looney; of 
course they be ; liain’t I told you so, over and 
over?” 

“Do not be too fast, Deacon ; now let me read 
this old deed ; you are sure that you will listen ?” 

“Go ahead,” was the ready reply. 

“ There you have it,” said George ; “ this deed 
was constructed at your desire, and by your di- 
rections, and the difference between the two de- 
scriptions of boundary lines makes two acres and 
a-lialf short measure for Simeon, and that much 
more for yon than is your right ; the mortgage 
was predicated no ton this but on the right lines, 
so you gave him a deed of less than he bought, 
and took a mortgage on more than he had. Now, 
the quit-claim which, through my instrumental- 
ity, you have, unconsciously, but justly, signed, 
cleans up this past transaction, and with you for- 


§44 BLUE RIBBONS. - 

a guide, I have drawn a new deed, a clean and 
honest paper ; will you sign it or not ?” 

“Some mistake,” said the Deacon, who was 
shaking for fear of having this, like other mistakes 
which George had rectified, thrown in his face. 
“Some mistake ; I never did such a thing a pur- 
pose, and now, George, if you wont go and re- 
port that for an honest fact, I’ll sign the other.” 

“I have no desire to retaliate, although your 
treatment of me has been of late anything but 
cordial and friendly.” 

“ Wall, wall, never mind, George, I don’t alius 
understand you.’’ 

“ You understand me in this matter, I hope?” 

“ Yes, I do ; I guess yon must have thought me 
a crooked man for business,” and a sickly smile 
overspread the meagre face, as he dipped his pen 
into the ink, and reached out for the paper. 

“ Two witnesses,” said George; “ hello there !” 
and he hailed Squire Loomis, who chanced to be 
in sight with, “ Come in, Squire ; you have saved 
us a journey. Come in and swear the Deacon.” 

So the matter was accomplished ; another of 
George’s blue ribbons fluttered out like the wing 
of a young bird, who having tested the air, knew 
its strength. The money was paid, and justice 
done, and, when he told Simeon, and gave into his 


BLUE RIBBOSTS. 


245 


hands a paper which was “ unpolluted by mean- 
ness,” as he affirmed, the latter spoke from his 
heart, satisfactorily and conclusively. 

“They are my freedom papers, Mr. Bean. A 
man once more ; can I ever repay you ?” 

“Yes, sir,” was the straightforward answer, 
“ by doing for another what I have tried to do for 
you. A manner most agreeable and after the laws 
of God.” 

“ Oh ! dear, dear, I’se tired,” said Rachel, when 
they returned from the city; “o’ tea, mother 
Charity, I want’s a sup.” 

“ I should think you would ; you’ve been gone 
since eight o’clock, long enough to buy the town 
out.” 

“ We’se bowt enough, an’ all o’ the younguns 
’ll be satisfied, even to quoloty Nancy ; we’se got 
a lot o’ things ; oh ! dear, dear, I’se tired.” 

“Well, don’t try to tell me a word; just eat 
your supper ; its been a waiting more’n an hour ; 
you couldn’t bring out what you bought.” 

“ Aye, but we did, for Jed. went wi’ us an’ we’se 
left the big load at Ardy’s Hoven ; but I’se got 
summat for ye, mother Charity ; here’s John wi’ 
it now ; its a nice, good, beautiful chair, with seat 
an’ back full o’ holes ; a chair that rocks.” 

“ Good land ! who on earth expected I’d hare 


246 


BLUE EIBBCMSrs. 


a present? but there’s the old sign ; I cut my nails 
on Monday morning and never thought of a red 
fox’s tail ; that’s the old sign, and true for once.” 

“Aye, but who’d ha’ thought on the fox’s taail 
if ye hadn’t a told o’ it.” 

“ That’s the secret of it ; you must be told, and 
then not think of it.” 

“That’s a Yankee giftin’ up ; but we’se got good 
things, an’ wi’ all the things, a great, long, beau- 
tiful, soft made seat, wi’ back an’ two rollin’ -over 
ends that’s just the thing for gells an’ their sweet- 
’earts. Nancy’ll be the one to sit on it ; Ruth has 
no time for sweet’earts. Come on, Nancy and Ja- 
ney, and unroll the big bundle o’ calico; pink it 
is like the roses, an’ there’s enough o’ it to make 
frocks an’ shawls for Yielit, an’ Nancy, an’ Janey. 

“ Shawls !” said Nancy, contemptuously, “ who 
ever wants a calico shawl ?” 

“Nancy,” her mother cried, “will I ever get a 
bit o’ anything that ye’ll find naw fault wi’ ?” and 
tears filled the eyes of Rachel, f„or she was very 
tired, and only the interposition of Violet, pre- 
vented a “ sad caperin’,” as Janey phrased it. 

“Now. now, Nancy, you are too bad, for the 
pink is beautiful, and will be very becoming ; I 
selected some buttons for you, to be set on the 
outside of the waist, and we bought lining, hooks 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


247 


and eyes, and all. I am as proud as a queen of 
mine, and we will make them up with pretty, lit- 
tle capes, with scolloped edges, bound with the 
same, oh ! we have had a splendid time, hunting 
for furniture, and made the grandest bargains. 

Ruth looked at N ancy as if to say, look out, 
lest a storm should rise, and her mother, too tired 
to talk, was forced to go to her room and rest. 
She was not really strong, although enduring 
much, in a certain way ; anything like real work 
exhausted her, and being always thin, her pale 
face and large eyes, at such times, made her look 
like a walking ghost, as Mrs. Chubbuck averred. 

Waters which are never so much riled, settle at 
last, and when the oil of an established change 
was really spread on the turbulent sea, mother 
Charity stood, in the sacred quiet at “Apple 
Rest,” giving thanks for the calm that lay before 
her. 

“Not that I’m sorry, no, no; I’m thankful to 
the Lord I took ’em in ; but work is work, and I 
was gettin’ so confused, I didn’t know where my 
head was, half the time. George confused me, 
and they twisted him up, especially Rachel, and 
its only yesterday he started to feed the chickens 
with a whole pan of mince pie meat in his hand, 
goin’ right by the meal I’d fixed for ’em. I’m 


248 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


glad for his sake, he can think of his celestials in 
some peace, and he’s never squinted at Venus, 
nor none of ’em as to that, since Rachel has come 
to us, without her goin’ after him. She beats all, 
and so does he, and between the two they’d keep 
a dozen in tow, and nobody would ever get any- 
where or do anything. ” 

• Mrs. Chubbuck was talking to herself, but Vio- 
let overheard and agreed with her, smoothing out 
the corners of the sentiment in her usual way. 

‘ ‘ They are two of the best hearts that ever beat 
in mortal frames.” 

“ I expect Jed’ll come in by the side of ’em, 
Vilit. I reckon he’s a cuttin’ ahead of all of us, 
in your opinion, eh ?” 

'‘You need not look at me over your glasses, 
for if you think so, so it must be to you. ‘ As a 
man thinketh, so is he.’ ” 

“ Well, he’s good and handsome, and smart. I 
hope it’ll be fair salin’.’’ 

“We have not chartered a steamer yet, Mrs. 
Chubbuck ; my mother would be appalled at the 
thought.” 

“ I ’spose she would ; I shouldn’t be in a hurry ; 
you’ve got so much comm on sense about everything, 
that I expect you’ll have a guide in this. Perfect 
love casteth out fear, ah! Vilit, I am an old 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


249 


woman to-day, but I remember well, how Nehe- 
miah came to belong to me, and I to him ; and 
how the uncertain feelin’ that came over me when 
I thought of marryin’ somebody else, never troub - 
led me when he was around. That somebody else 
had brighter eyes, a handsome face, and a better 
start in the world ; but I took to Nehemiah as 
naturally as a duck to water, and there wasn’t a 
bit of fear within ten miles of me, and when I 
get to thinkin’ of him away over yonder, clean 
out of sight of all the fuss and the fret, I can’t 
hardly wait to be called for. I expect to be with 
him in Heaven ; there’s no marryin’ nor givin’ in 
marriage there, according to Scripture, but that 
refers to the walks of earth as I understand it, and 
I feel sure of seein’ all my people, and being one 
with ’em there ; yes, nearer together than ever be- 
fore. ‘ Death, like a narrow sea divides that land 
from oui’S ’; that’s true ; and when we get so tired 
we can’t walk here, then is the time the wings God 
give us will take us over there. I thought, last 
fall, that I should be there before winter was gone, 
but I’m as well again as I was ; George’s hemlock 
medicine has helped the poor, old oil bags won- 
derfully, and as long as I can work, I’m willin’ to 
stay and do whatever my hands find to do. Oh ! 
hum ; I aint half so good as I ought to be. ” 


250 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ I thought you were a good deal better than you 
could afford to be,” said Jed., surprising them 
with his presence. “You had a heap of Christi- 
anity aboard when you took the Hardy swarm. I 
have just come from the dven, and carried little 
Janey to school, on my road over here ; she has 
coaxed the Professor to let her have her fiddle in 
sight ; she cried a week, and was perfectly miser- 
able. She promised to ‘study good’ if he would 
let her bring it, and the child takes it to and from 
school, daily. I believe she will startle the world 
with her music yet ; what a blessed little beauty 
she is. Here is a letter, Violet. I came over on 
purpose to bring it. ” 

“Oh! it is from the city ; they must be at home; 
I hardly expected them so soon,” and hastily 
breaking the seal, she read it. Her face grew 
white. Jed. sprang to her side and, putting out 
both hands to him, her eyes falling on him with a 
strange, wild look, as if she craved a much needed 
help, he caught her fainting form, which lay as 
lifeless in his arms, as if she was dead. 

“ Oh ! God !” he cried, “what will we do?” 

“Take her right into the other room, and put’ 
her on the lounge,” replied Mrs. Chubbuck; 
“ shall I help you?” 

“Oh! no, she is light as a feather;” and with 


BLUE "RIBBONS. 


251 


a face scarcely less white than hers, he bore her 
to the lounge, laying her tenderly down and 
whispering, “ sweet little flower, Violet darling 
but no sign of life was there, no breath percepti- 
ble, and while Mrs. Chubbuck called Millie, got 
camphor, hot water and flannels, he clasped her 
hands without effect, the tears rolling over his 
face, and his forehead beaded with the perspira- 
tion of fear. 

“ She is certainly dead,” said Mrs. Chubbuck; 
“ no warmth in her limbs, her forehead cold ; oh, 
my poor, sweet girl, the light of the old home, 
the love of her mother, we can’t let her die ; what 
shall we do?” 

“Aye, I’se come,” sounded the voice of Rachel, 
“I laid on the bed, an’ I heard Vielit cry out to 
me, and John ’Ardy he tolled me, ‘nonsense, owd 
’ooman,’ but I heard it again, an’ here I is,” and - 
looking at the three who stood tearfully over the 
prostrate form, her face changed into that of a 
marble woman, as, pushing them almost rudely 
aside, she said, 

“ Stop ci’yin’ every one o’ ye; she’s not dead, 
and pulling her dress open, she laid one hand 
over the cold and motionless heart, and the other 
at the back of her neck. 

“ Jed. lay the palms o’ your hands flat agin the 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


•252 

soles o’ her feet; summat sudden has hit the 
flower, but never ye mind,” and there upon her 
knees, her face growing solidly white each mo- 
ment, the strange Rachel sat, her eyes wide open, 
and their lids palsied as it were. It was a sight 
that filled them with emotion, and almost fear. 

Twenty minutes, which seemed an hour, and a 
little half-born breath came fluttering through the 
white lips. 

As quick as thought Rachel turned her upon 
her right side, and began making rapid strokes 
over her back. 

“ Oh !” gasped Violet. 

“Aye, darlin’, lie still,” and she worked with 
redoubled energy. 

“Jed,” came from the sufferer’s lips. 

“Aye, he’s here, wait a bit,” said Rachel; 
“mother o’ Charity gie us one tea-spoon o’ brandy 
in three o’ hot water, only one.” 

“Now, sweet flower,” and she passed her arm 
about her,” rise an’ drink, ye’s all right. Jed. 
come and sit here, just hauld her an’ keep her 
warm, don’t let her talk, not yet. I’se tired; I’se 
faint, an’ waants air,” and she staggered to the 
door, with Millie following. 

“It’s done, it’s done,” she said to herself.” 
Millie get some cold water, dash it in mi face, let 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


253 


mi get mi hands in it too. G-ie mi a sup o’ tea 
an’ a bite o’ bread, an’ I’ll go in an’ lie down a 
bit. Oh! dear, I’ se tired— strength has gone out 
o’ me ; but all for sweet Violet. Oh ! I’se glad, 
I’se glad.” 

Ah ! Millie Dean you will never forget that 
day, and the dark cloud that hung over Apple 
Rest. You know too well how Violet felt; how 
the poor heart trembled when she read that her 
mother, that one dear friend, whose place no 
other could fill, was dead ; her body had returned 
from its western journey minus the soul that 
made it warm, the living, loving part, that was 
Violet’s precious treasure. That poor heart would 
never beat again you were very sure had not 
Rachel, always eccentric, laid her warm hand 
upon it. 

What a fadeless photograph this scene cast on 
the sensitized plate of your memory ; how you 
loved this woman from the wilderness in that 
hour when, with rapid exhaustion of herself, she 
seemed a human life-saving machine, bringing 
back that girl who lay so cold, and as you thought 
dead, and the love that was born in your heart 
that day, never will lose itself within the woods 
of change, or on the sea of fluctuating life. Rachel 
felt it, and thanked you for the tea and bread you 


254 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


so readily brought, for the smiles you lavished 
on her, but more than all, for the strong thought 
that arose and stood beside her as a lasting friend. 

“ Let John ’Ardy go to the hoven; I’se to stay 
here all day an’ all night, an’ Jed’s to stay,” and 
she whispered to Mrs. Chubbuck, “If she goes 
to the funeral ; I’se afeard there’s trouble wi’ her 
heart, the blood goes in faster nor it gets out. 
She’d best not go, what’ll we do?” 

“I will go, and Millie with me; but she will 
want to see her mother’s face.” 

“ Aye, I knaaws ; but she mustn’t die.” 

“No, no; her mother would say the same, poor 
child.” 

The heavens wept next day, and a pale curl- 
shaded face was pressed against the window- 
pane, watching them out of sight, they who were 
to attend the funeral of that blessed mother. Jed. 
stood beside her, and his mother and Rachel were 
there also. 

Their hearts beat with united fear, and Jed. was 
growing weak ; his limbs trembled, even as his 
voice. 

The carriage out of sight, and Violet sat with 
her hand in his, the little white cold hand, whose 
very nails were blue with lack of life; but her 
breath came deeper now, a strength, born of 


BI/UE RIBBONS. 


255 


heaven, came slowly upon her, filling the blood 
in every vein, with impetus that caused friction 
and warmth, and through her tears she said, 

“A blessed something has fallen on me. The 
Father has heard my prayer. I must not weep, 
it is selfish, my mother has found the Heaven sh 
was fitted for, and I shall find her by and by. 
No, no, not yet,” as] Jed. instinctively shuddered, 
“I will stay witti you, and she will watch over us 
both — poor, lonely father, he will miss her so, 
but I could never stay with him ; he has many 
friends of his own ; I shall stay here.” 

Jed. did not say it, it was not the right time ; 
but he thought, we will have a home of our own. 


CHAPTER XV. 


HE dark day was passed, and after the 
clouds and rain came sunshine, which 
fell on Apple Rest as if to whisper to 
the soul of the stricken Violet of the peace which 
passeth understanding. She felt it, and looking 
into the eyes of mother Charity said, 

“Hedoeth all things well; I dare not mourn 
for her.” 

“No, no ; them that’s gone we never mourn for ; 
it is for us who are left alone, and sorry as I was 
that you couldn’t go to the funeral, I felt when I 
got there, and knew we couldn’t look on the face, 
that even your weakness was all right. It would 
have hurt you Vilit. ” 

“ Oh ! I know it, Mrs. Chubbuck, and now I 
shut my eyes, and see her, bright and loving as 
when she said good bye to me last. It will not be 
so very long before I go to her. I never can be 
real strong and well you know ; that terrible sick- 
ness years ago left the track of its feet within, 
and, it seems to me, jarred the mainspring of 
nervous life, so that its tick is irregular and weak. 
I believe I understand myself thoroughly, and I 



BLUE RIBBONS. 


257 


think it a real wonder that I came back to life. I 
felt when I read the words as if a cold, vice-like 
hand clutched at my very heart; and then it 
seemed like drifting away from myself — not so 
painful either after the first cold touch of the 
hand.” 

“ Yilit, I know you want to stay here with me, 
and I want you should. You know I liain’t got 
any relatives, not one nearer than cousins, except 
old Uncle Bije, and he’s blind and lame, and gone 
clean back into his second childhood ; and I’m 
just a going to call you my girl, and I mean it. 
Millie’ll stay with us here until that dark-eyed 
chap in the city comes after her. She gets three 
or four letters a week now, and he must be earn- 
in’ good wages to afford so much time to write in. 
I hope he’s good as well as learned. Millie is one 
of the best girls I ever knew — but you want to 
stay with me, don’t you?” 

Violet bowed her head, for the thanksgiving in 
her heart came up and met the tears that fell, and 
she could not speak. 

“ That settles it,” and Mrs. Chubbuck gathered 
her close to her heart, “now you’re my girl; 
poor old Charity Chubbuck has found a daugh- 
ter. I hope Nehemiah knows it. I wonder if he 
does?” 


258 BLUE RIBBONS. 

Violet’s cheeks were paler through the days 
that followed. Simeon and Belinda thought of 
her kindly, and came weekly to see her. Jed. 
took her out to ride almost every day, and George 
looked anxiously at her, and longed for the day 
when she would come again to the school house, 
for up to the date of her sorrow she had been with 
him every Wednesday afternoon helping the 
scholars with the songs which enlivened their 
school house life, and it was a great blank that 
fell in their midst when her visits ceased. Her 
voice was gone. “Not my lungs,” she said, 

‘ ‘ but my stomach. ” 

“Aye,” said Rachel, “that’s where the voice 
comes from, folks live wi’ their stomachs, but 
they doesn’t know it. Lot’s o’ folks thinks their 
hearts is turned wrong when it’s nowt but their 
gizzards. I can prove it to ye. If ye sees a bad 
sight ye looks wi your eyes, an’ what they does 
is to telegraph news to the brains, an’ the minute 
the brains feels this, so does the stomach, for the 
nerves is like a railroad fra one to tother, an’ ye 
gets sick, or ye faants or what all. An’ don’t ye 
see the one graat nerve as does such good work, 
got hit when the bad news come to ye, an’ it can’t 
do nowt but flippir ; aye, ye caant sing till while 
ye gets strong. ” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


259 


Janey was glad when the day came, and George’s 
mother, Aunt Patty Bean, took great delight in 
joining her, as together they sang, “ The rose tree 
in full bearing. ” 

Whenever Rachel heard this song she became 
agitated, and once, when Violet and Aunt Patty 
were spending the day at the oven, she said 
quickly, 

“Vielit, love, sing it naw more, it souns like 
foretellin’, an’ makes me cry. I haates foretellin’ 
soun,” and she cried, while they marvelled at her 
meaning. 

Wisely from mortal eyes, sometimes the sor- 
rowing secrets of the years are kept, and smiling 
to-day, whose warmth must feel the curdling chill 
of grief, knows not the coming of the future cloud. 
What can be in store for Violet? 

I. L. O. B. R. flourished, “like a green bay 
tree,” Mrs. Chubbuck said, and when the Spring 
came, as of course it must, and Rachel proposed 
to have a bit o’ a time at the lioven, it w T as decided 
that a lodge meeting, with “Blue Ribbons” at 
the head, would be just the best way to celebrate. 

Violet was better, bodily, and began to realize 
what her friend and physician, Rachel, told her. 

“Aye, mi dear, ye’ll hae strength to bear 
trouble whene’er it comes, if the nerves an’ the 


260 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


blood is all right, for it’s on the body the mind 
an’ heart forever sits. It’s true, Vielit ; does ye 
think ye would enjoy a beautiful sermon, an’ 
have a tooth pulled out at the same time? I tells 
ye, Vielit, it’s strength ye wants; take the bitters 
I makes, an’ do just as I tells ye, an’ the days to 
come’ll tell ye as I was right, an’ knaaws all I’se 
about. Aye, I does.” 

Yes, Violet doubted it not ; for the days brought 
the proof as predicted, and she was better. She 
could not sing very much, but her smile was 
brighter ; not forced, as through the first days of 
her grief, w r hen living seemed so often like feel- 
ing her way in the dark through a forest, moving 
carefully around and crawling slowly and pain- 
fully over the trunks of trees ; not that she thought 
less of her mother; less? oh! no, she grew nearer 
daily to the guardian angel who floated over her 
in dreams, and of whose new 7 life she felt so truly, 
“Angels see men. I know my mother cannot 
go so far away she will not see me,” she said, and 
the light in her eye was only a deeper blue, re- 
flecting as it did the ocean of purity beneath. 

April days are beautiful, breezy and sweet, so 
full of balm, one learns to look into the face of 
nature with expectation of reading a long full 
page of promise, Crocus blooms were only 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


261 

voices that said blushing roses and lilies, with 
their whitened cups and bells, that ring in young- 
birds throats ; warm, sunshiny summer, that lies 
just a look ahead of you. Rejoice and be glad ; 
how every year these sentinel months challenge 
us with a watchword ; how we ransack the house 
from attic to cellar, throwing the ingrate dust out 
our windows, never stopping to think these hands 
of ours will be dust sometime ; no, we think of 
nothing but the rejuvenation, the refitting, regar- 
nishing, an iteration and reiteration of nature, the 
mutability of her immutability, as infectious as 
it is real, and clear from the ploughed fields be- 
yond the sight of the door of home, on up 
through the garden, whose area measured two 
good house lots ; whose fence was made of cur- 
rants, and raspberries, and gooseberries ; whose 
paths were defined by mint, catnip, motherwort, 
rue, tansy, and sage, with here and there green 
trees of caraway, fennel and dill ; those festival 
seeds that filled ample pockets on the day of Sab- 
bath and were as apropos to the sermon, as cram 
berry sauce to Thanksgiving turkey, clear up to 
the flat stone at the door, the breath of nature ? s 
retouch and resurrection came, and it was no 
wonder that it set our wits working, even as our 
hands, while day after day, turbaned heads 


Ms 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


held eyes that peered into everything, searching 
for dust that ready hands would willingly cast 
on the altar of sacrifice — spring cleaning ! The 
smoke of bonfires, and in-door dust-laden atmos- 
phere, were synonomous, and out with the seeds 
stowed away in bureau drawers, the corn to be 
planted and all, went the abhorred dirt, and then 
just think of it, mother nature smiled at our so- 
called sacrifice, as she always does, regarding our 
cast-off particles, her easily gotten profit, and 
from the boot legs at the root of the grape vine, 
the wood ashes in the grass that woke sweet white 
clover blossoms into life, to the dust we swept into 
the garden gate, all was utilized, and our buried 
selves were resurrected, amplified, and supported 
by the reversion of natural cause and effect. 

Perhaps it is always so, even in the souls econ- 
omy, which is an outgrowth of physical entities 
with their needs, a light that glorifies the taber- 
nacle and creates daily evidences of immortality. 
Ah! yes, as Mrs. Chubbuck said, “the wings that 
are hidden from sight, unfold and crave activity, 
plume and carry us beyond the bounds of earth, 
when our limbs refuse to go. Worms and but- 
terflies, even the poorest of us caterpillars may 
have strong wings, and reflect in shape and flight 
the design of divinity. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


263 

With thought and work and palpitating life, 
such a spring like this lay over Apple Rest, and a 
charming day, whose name was Wednesday, 
April 5th, dawned on Apple Rest, and Hardy’s 
Oven. 

Ruth was more than busy. Nancy had helped 
her by putting the best room to rights, and Millie 
and Violet had made a donation in the shape of 
one two-three cake, and a mammoth chicken pie, 
“to be eaten cold, or warmed over in the oven, 
just as they please,” said Mrs. Chubbuck. 

School had come to a close, so George was at 
liberty and on hand early. 

A respect to the night, as well as the bodily 
needs, was the foundation of early hours both 
sides of sunset, so they were in good season, and 
at home and in bed by nine o’clock— good old 
style whose smooth, pure custom brought fewer 
wrinkles than we see to-day ; cosmetics- were not 
so valuable then as now, and the trade in life less 
lively. No need in those days of scraping a face 
to find the complexion ; every girl or nearly every 
one had roses of her own, and when their color 
changed with years and care, a faint tinge of Ver- 
million, lingered like the prayer of day, when 
near the rim of night, it leaves a long pure line 
of amber touch with blushes, for the evening star 


264 BLUE BIBBOTtS. 

to look at when it rises. Mother Charity’s face 
was after this description ; girlhood, though drift- 
ing sooner into the sea of womanhood, did not 
entirely die, and these dear grandmothers kept a 
little youth beneath the care through all the years, 
just as they keep their rich cake through all the 
year, ready for extra company when it came. 

The oven was tilled to repleteness with savory 
food, and was a novel sight. A young roaster lay 
in state with beautifully browned sides, which by 
the solidly steady heat of this wonderful oven, 
were as evenly painted as if the color had been 
laid on with a brush. 

“It’s a steady fizzle ye gets frae that hoven,” 
said Rachel, “ not too done at one corner an’ raw. 
at tother, but done straate through, as even baked 
as the stones theirselves an’ its nate-yurs oven is 
that — aye, bread and piggy an’ all done fit to eat.” 

The assembled company lavished their praises, 
and deemed the verdict of Rachel nothing more 
than just and right. 

Conversation floated in and out, likewise the 
knitting needles which clicked on every hand, for 
each female had a handy bag, one which was just 
a strip of silk or cotton, gathered at one end, 
w T hich was sometimes graced by a bow or tassel, 
and at the other a single shirring, which run an 


BLUE "RIBBONS. 


265 


inch from the edge, and admitted of a silk string, 
which, running entirely through it, crossed its 
track and was invited to come out an opening in 
each side, thereby making two silken handles, and 
when the knitting and pocket handkerchief were 
inside, and the aperture closed by the drawn string, 
the inch of edge left a ruffling which was a dainty 
finish ; taste was alive then as now. 

At three o’clock, precisely, everything was on 
the table, and a right-royal dinner — supper it was. 

“ Come mi’ dears,” called Rachel, who was in 
high glee, “ come on to the feast, there’s more here 
nor is lit for us, an’ a good deal o’ sweet stuff we 
doesn’t walint, but we’ll take our pick, from the 
caperin’ mother down to quoloty Nancy, but I 
waaynt wait on table, an John ’Ardy he says as 
he waaynt.” 

“I beant learnt in it,” growled John, slowly, “I 
beant use to it, an’ naw mon as waants to make 
fool o’ hissel.” 

“HI do part of it” said Mrs. Chubbuck, “and 
Squire Loomis and Eli can do the rest.” 

“ Aye, that’s good” said Rachel, “ but see here 
we must hae a bit o’ a blessin, let the Squeer do 
it, Blue Ribbins ’ill maake it too long.” 

It required a moment or two to reduce the 
smiles, which in George’s case was a hearty laugh, 
12 


266 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


meanwhile Rachel calling, “Be still I saay — be 
still an’ get the blessin’.” 

Ruth whispered in her ear, and with a sudden 
dropping of her eyes, which fortunately Squire 
Loomis did not see, Rachel, with her elbows on 
the table, inclined her head forward to rest on her 
hands, and sat like a stone waiting the words 
which fell appropriately and honestly from the 
lips of the good man. 

“Now then,” she said, as if relieved, “we’ll talk 
wi’ the pig an’ the chickens an’ all.” 

The shout which followed her remark was a re- 
lief, for not one of them all but had bitten their 
lips from her first speech. She was a perfect child 
in this matter, for while her feeling was real, and 
made her request in the honesty of her heart, she 
realized George’s proclivity to lengthy speeches, 
and although she wanted him to ask the blessing, 
thought she risked a lengthy prologue, and could 
not avoid saying so. 

“I wish she could ever keep her thoughts to 
herself,” whispered Nancy to Ruth. 

“Never mind,” the sister-mother answered, 
meanwhile she trembled, fearing Nancy might 
leave the table, and to Ruth it was a pleasure to 
feel that they could have so pleasant a supper in 
their new home ; she realized the kindness of their 


feLtTE RiBfeONS. 


267 

new friends, and strove to keep their friendship. 

The meal over, an adjournment to the best room 
was made by the male portion, and when all the 
dishes were washed and the kitchen cleared up, 
the females joined them, and an informal lodge 
meeting held, which was given to the interests of 
the people, and resolved itself into a sort of in- 
quiry meeting, with reference to the best methods 
of furthering the temperance reform. 

As to interest, they were united, being a unit 
in feeling, and desirous of killing the worm which 
gnawed at the tree of individual liberty in their 
midst. 

George was more strenuous than his fellows in 
expression ; the tire of his feeling rose with 
greater power, and the wealth of language which 
he possessed, made his speeches welcome always. 
It may not be wrong to say that Squire Loomis 
and Eli Perkins sometimes differed substantially 
with him, in the expression of the one sentiment, 
for the sole purpose of getting him warmed up. 

“ How he will cut our limbs and hew down our 
trees, walking rough shod through all our theo- 
ries,” said the Squire. “It is music to me, and 
when those hands go running through the hair on 
his head, which he throws back at an angle of for- 
ty-five degrees, look out for a settlement, ” 


S08 BLUE BIBBOXS. 

A few weak expressions on the part of the 
Squire had the desired effect this afternoon, and 
George unbosomed himself and did himself great 
justice in a speech of an hour. After he had given 
the dimensions, not only of the enemy, Rum, but 
those who declared themselves warriors, whose 
mission would not be ended until the last breath 
of the tyrant was drawn ; after he had rung the 
changes of the Squire’s remark, that they must 
work their way easily through the ranks of the 
enemy, he closed by rendering a verdict which, 
like a parting shot, went closer home than he 
dreamed, and had he really known, he wrnuld 
sooner have cut off his right hand. 

“Brothers,” he said, “ the best man among us, 
the man who has as white a soul as any man need 
to possess, whose perceptive faculties are equal 
to making him a perfect power of insight, on 
whom we might and ought to rely, in the dark 
days of a nation’s peril, this man says to me in 
tones of calm security, we must work our way 
easily through the ranks of our enemy. He does 
not know what he says ; he realizes not the power 
of the strong-handed enemy. If it clutched at 
his throat as it does at others, if his only bright- 
eyed son, the pride of his fatherly heart, had suc- 
cumbed to the wine cup, ah ! if this were the case, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


269 


my sober, honest and intelligent friend, would 
not waste his urbanity on so unworthy a presence ; 
there would be no measure too stringent to adopt, 
no manner too abrupt to rescue his only child 
from the poisonous inoculation of old King Al- 
cohol. We are not looking for so sorrowful a 
change as this, knowing the straight-forward, 
clear-eyed boy who is our friend, and it is an in- 
supposable picture which I draw, but let me 
hasten to the close, and touch the point at which 
I aim. There are other fathers, who, unlike Mr. 
Loomis, suffer daily, and at the hands of their 
own. Mothers watching in fear for the coming 
homeward of their boys ; mothers whose hearts, 
well used to this sorrow, beat quickly with fear, 
as they trembling list the coming step. Is he so- 
ber, or is he drunk? Oh! let us make the woes of 
others our own ; let their cases, with their crying 
needs be answered as if it were ourselves who 
called to ourselves. I say give the enemy no 
quarters, and my cry is the Macedonian appeal, 
“Come over and help us !” 

Squire Loomis’ face was pale, and his wife laid 
down her knitting work, ere George had half fin- 
ished his speech, and when he closed, her eyes, 
tear-filled, would not meet those of her husband, 
whose heart, like her own, was trembling. 


270 


BLUE BIBBONS. 


“Brothers,” said Squire Loomis, “I feel that 
our friend Bean is right and I am wrong. He 
has, as usual, given us a most salutary lesson, and 
I am willing to say he is the man who should lead 
us. It is true w r e are too prone to not consider the 
safety of others when we ourselves are in a har- 
bor of security. Let us try to do it, and rely 
through time not only on all we may do our- 
selves, but upon that divine help whose presence 
is forever near. ” 

“Aye,’’ cried Rachel, “in or out o’ order, I say 
let's hae a bit o’ music ; Janey bring the fiddle.” 

“I second the motion,” said George, “and I,” 
“and I,” ran pleasantly around the room, and 
Janey, in the little wood rocker her mother 
brought from the city, made an interesting pic- 
ture. She sat next Jed., for whom she enter- 
tained a most profound admiration and respect. 

Little brown fingers tuned the violin, turning 
the screws this way and that, and feeling the 
slender neck in her usual tender way, then boldly 
the bow comes down upon the one loved string, 
and her birds came readily out. 

“There’s lots o’ birds in the fiddle to-night,” 
she whispered to Jed., “I wish Aunt Patty would 
sing, when I’se played a bit, to get the prairie hens 
an’ the new, little east robins together 5” and 00 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


271 


slie played, flying clear away at last, and gather- 
ing eyes and hearts as one to kneel at the shrine 
of her natural music. “Born to the fiddle,” her 
mother said, which was indeed most true. At 
last her notes fell quivering at the feet of her 
listeners, and looking at Aunt Patty she said : 

“ Will ye sing, silver voice! I loves to hear ye.” 

“I will,” said Aunt Patty, “what shall the 
song be?” 

“Any one ye choose. I’ll find the way; mi fid- 
dle birds fly close to the tune, never ye fear ; be- 
gin, an’ I’ll catch the track. ” 

“Flow gently, sweet Afton,” Aunt Patty sang 
and if one could imagine a sweet and powerful 
voice rising beside a brook, whose music ran in 
perfect harmony by the side of the voice, with 
now and then a harmonious chirp of wild birds 
on the bank beside and around the singer, the 
dipping of wings and the rustle, too, as from them 
fell feathered spray, they would then have an ad- 
equate conception of the accompaniment which 
seemed to run under and over, inside and around 
the voice of Aunt Patty, making of each word a 
quality, and giving to every note a quivering, 
trembling, lingering sweetness, that filled the air 
even after the verse was finished. 

“Three cheers for Janey and my good mother,’ ’ 


272 


BLUE BIBBONS. 


cried George, and Janey running across the room 
to George said, in her quaint, sweet way, 

“Teacher, I says, three loud claps for the wood- 
en nutmegs.” 

When she returned to her little rocker there 
was something in it. 

“Take it out,” said Jed., “and see how you 
like it.” 

“What is it?” and the dark eyes opened widely. 

“Take it out and see.” 

“Oh ! look, look,’’ she cried, “see, every one o’ 
ye,” and lifting the long, narrow box in her arms 
she set it on the floor near her, and taking her 
seat in the chair, rested her elbows on her knees, 
her chin on her hands, and looked intently at the 
strange something on the floor. 

“I sees, I sees,” at last she cried,” a house for 
the fiddle ; come, ye good teacher, tell me, does I 
read the letters right. It says ‘ a box for Janey’s 
birds.’ ” 

“Hurrah ! the old cat and all her kittens !” and 
George came and knelt near, “you read it aright. 
A beautiful box of boxwood with carved title, 
strong and handsome fastenings,” and he opened 
the lid carefully, “and lined in true blue.” 

“Come, every one o’ ye,’’ said Janey, Jed. made 
it, because he just loves me and the fiddle (an’ 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


273 


Vielit wi’ us), oh ! the good Jed.,” and slowly and 
carefully laying her treasure into its handsome 
case, she folded her hands complacently and said, 
“I’se glad its big, to hold green blanket an’ all.” 


CHAPTER XVI. 


T ain’t no use, George, the folks are rooted 
and grounded, as Parson Hunt says, in their 
own notions, and you spend your breath 
for nothin’. They wont let the boys go to school 
I know they wont.” 

“I wish Parson Hunt was not as old as he is, 
his mind is naturally well balanced, and we should 
find in him a strong ally. I verily believe his 
help would be worth more than all the rest put 
together, but he is a superannuated old fellow.” 

“ Is that what you call bein’ deaf as a haddock 
and lame in both legs ? I can’ t see how on earth 
he makes such good sermons as he does — and they 
ain’t the old ones warmed over. I’ve watched 
him close enough to know that.” 

“Well, my dear sister Chubbuck, I shall cir- 
cumvent the god of ignorance, at all events, for 
if the people will not consent to send their boys 
through the summer to school, and I know very 
well they will not, I will inaugurate evening class- 
es, and thereby serve the children. I think the 
committee will give me the use of the school 
house — yes, I know they will, and I can attend to 



BLUE RIBBONS. 


275 

ten or twenty, three evenings in every week, as 
well as not.” 

“ What kind of pay do you think you’ll get ; 
they wouldn’t give you five cents a night.” 

“Well, if they will furnish some oil lamps, 
which we need, I can get along. The money part 
of it I am not thinking of, for I have arranged to 
do considerable work in surveying, and in haying 
time I can get work if necessary ; I shall get along 
and for the sake of the coming future, if not the 
present, I am anxious to do something toward 
helping men to an appreciation of knowledge. It 
is a sorrowful fact, and one that stirs the blood in 
my veins, that the people of Hyde, as a majority, 
are willing to sit year after year in the same old 
chair. The small and insufficient knowledge 
which may be gained at the old school house, dur- 
ing the six months of school, being deemed full 
measure, upon which they are ready to depend 
themselves, and recognize it all that is necessary for 
their children. Why, they cannot know anything 
for certain, and in their delusion, hug their igno- 
rance to their breasts, and say to me, You must 
not try to deprive us of the right to our children’s 
labor. We cannot afford to let them go to school 
through the summer.’ I tell you sister Chubbuck, 
I will fight for these foolish people and starved 


276 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


children — yes, fight with no regard to pecuniary 
emolument ; do not mention it beside the fact of 
their great need. It is like a man who sees anoth- 
er on the verge of a precipice, and pauses to ex- 
tort fifty dollars from him before he renders the 
life service, and while the poor victim with pal- 
sied brain and horror stricken heart, feels in his 
pocket with trembling fingers for the sum requir- 
ed, exhausted nature gives way, and he falls head- 
long into the precipice, a shapeless mass, his un- 
timely fate entailing misery on those he leaves 
behind. 

This is the question of to-day. The picture is 
a just representation of ignorance that dares to 
play and loves to sit upon the margin of preci- 
pices, because it knows no better, and by the right 
which a true conception of things has given me, 

I dare to be true to my convictions, but I am alone, 
single handed and alone.” 

“George, there ain’t no need of your going into 
a tantrum about folk’s schoolin’. You know well 
enough I’m willin' to do anything under the sun 
for you, and while it may be all jest as you say — 
of course I know you ought to be better posted 
than me, in the needs of heads, I tell you what it 
is, your shoulders ain’t broad enough to carry 
half nor quarter of Hyde. If you see the best 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


277 


thing that everybody could do for themselves and 
the salvation of the whole world besides, you 
can’t make ’em do it, and I don’t b’lieve you 
ought to be upheld in tirin’ yourself all out for 
folks that won’t be anything but a dead weight. 
Where’ll you fetch up when you get to be an old 
man, if you spend every cent as you go ? I tell 
you, you can eat your ownpuddin’ in milk or 
with molasses, but you can’t sweeten things for 
other folks, for they won’t eat it, and its just a 
waste.” 

“ Nevertheless, I shall do my best to subvert 
the established ignorance, and if, as you predict, 
I fetch up in the poor-house, it Avill be no more 
than trusting to the ravens to be fed, and when 
God calls the roll of the ages, I shall be there, as 
one who, perceiving the truth, dared by His help, 
to practice it. No sir ! not if my life depended 
on it, would I relinquish my hold on truth. Old 
Gallileo had a hard time of it. All that we owe 
to science, whose skill is forever on the alert for 
the benefit of man, some man has laid down a life 
to gain, not for himself, but another, and I can 
pray in a poor house and be heard as well as in a 
palace ; better I guess,” and with his eyes riveted 
on the star of a nation’ s probity, he measured still 
the distance between the planet and this most glo- 


278 


BLUE RIBBONS. ~ 


rious orb, gathering more and more of its light to 
himself, and walking truly in two worlds. 

Long strides toward the barn, and then back to 
the house, he took, while Mrs. Chubbuck, who 
watched him, said, 

“That man has missed his calculations; he 
don’t belong here ; he ought to live up there with 
Jupiter and the rest of ’em that he watches ; bless 
his heart, I wish he had plenty of money.” 

The question what shall be done, lay solved, 
and straightway efforts to put into practice his de- 
sign were made and responded to, so that beside 
Simeon and Jed., there were a half dozen others 
who came regularly Tuesday, Thursday and Sat- 
urday nights to the school house. The large 
black-board held long rows of figures, and geo- 
metrical lines as well, and with the interest mani- 
fested by the few who really desired to make 
progress in study, George was gaining ground. 
Every day coming nearer some of the things his 
soul desired, he was not careful to count the 
hours, and often the old clock tolled out eleven 
before he came in. Mrs. Chubbuck did not enjoy 
this, for with her care over him, she could not 
well go to sleep until he was safely in bed. 

It was a bright moonlight night, as she lay 
looking at the streaks of light that lay on the 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


279 


floor of her bedroom, and waiting for him to come 
in, when she started, hearing his voice and also 
that of a stranger, with him. Both came into the 
gate and on to the verandah. 

“They make noise enough for forty,” she whis- 
pered. 

The door opened, George came in, going qui- 
etly to her door, spoke low, as if afraid of waking 
her suddenly. 

“Yes, I hear you George, what is it?’’ 

‘ ‘ I have a man here, a stranger to me, who is 
worn out with travel. I would like to lay a buf- 
falo robe on the kitchen floor and let him sleep 
there. He will do no harm.” 

“Ain’t he drunk?” 

“I cannot rightly say, but he is used up, there 
is no harm in his coming in.” 

“Wall, let him in, but I’ll bet a’ dollar he’s 
drunk. I guess I’ll get up.” 

“No, no,” persisted George, “there is no need 
of it,” but the old lady slipped on a loose dress 
and slippers, and went out in time to see George 
holding on to a man who was unable to stand. 

“All right,” said George, “you cannot navi- 
gate with ease,” and he endeavored to seat him in 
a chair, but the poor fellow lost his poise entirely, 
out went his limbs and he fell sprawling on the 


280 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


floor, muttering something about people’s keeping 
their furniture still. 

George got the buffalo robe and two old carriage 
cushions, and helped him to roll over on to it. ‘ ‘ I, 
hie, shall be, hie, all, hie, right, hie, in the morn- 
ing,” he stammered, and was off to the land of 
dreams, by the road of a drunken slumber.” 

“Drunk as a beast, ’’said Mrs. Chubbuck, “what 
on earth possessed you to bring him in here.” 

“ Simply because I could not let him die by the 
wayside. Do not scold me ; he was a man who 
once was a child and had a mother. ‘ Inasmuch 
as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto 
me.’ ” 

“Wall, I’ll go to bed; I ain’t afraid of him, 
poor fool ; now you go to bed.” 

“Very well,” said George, and when she was 
out of sight, he brought out the second buffalo 
robe, and stealing carefully up stairs came down 
with a blanket and pillow, also an astronomical 
chart and the huge diary, in which he wrote 
daily as much at length and with as minute a cor- 
rectness, as if expected to be called before the 
bar of Infinite Justice with this very book as ref- 
erence, and fearing lest some of his precious time 
be wasted, had also a book containing notes of a 
survey. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


281 


He hardly felt justified in leaving Mrs. Chub- 
buck down stairs alone, fearing lest the stranger 
might awake and make some outcry, and he pre- 
pared himself a couch in one corner of the kitchen, 
and setting the lamp where its rays would be 
sheltered from sight, seated himself, Indian like, 
upon his low couch, for an hour or two’s study. 
He was too tired to keep awake, and shortly after 
midnight he blew out his light ; drew the blanket 
over him, and slumbered heavily. 

His intention of rising early enough to carry 
the things away, and also invite the stranger to 
a bath at the little stone fountain at the back door, 
before Mrs. Chubbuck came out, thus making him 
presentable enough to be eligible to a seat at the 
breakfast table, was ignored by slumber, for the 
early morning hours passed by with slippered 
feet, and when Mrs. Chubbuck entered her kitch- 
en, she raised both hands. 

“Mercy on us,” she exclaimed, “two of ’em, 
I’ll call George, for I daresn’t stir up the lions. 
Good land !” 

“Ah!” and George’s eyes opened — he sprang 
to his feet. 

“The old cat and all her kittens ! I have slept 
clear through,” and he gathered up his bedding 


BLUE KIBB0STS. 


and going toward the door, met Mrs. Chubbuck, 
who looked as if frightened out of her senses. 

“Where did you come from ? I was jest goin’ 
to call you.” 

“I slept on the floor for purpose of making all 
things safe. Wait one moment and I will arouse 
the sleeper.” 

“I’m willin’ you should, for I ain’t used to stir- 
ring up animals, but I want the way clear to get 
breakfast.’ ’ 

George hastened back, and with a word waken- 
ed the man, who, raising himself on his elbow, 
stared strangely about him. 

“You came in with me last night,” said George, 
“ will you rise and prepare yourself to eat break- 
fast with us?” Mrs. Chubbuck looked at him 
sharply, as if to say, how do you know' whether 
he is fit to eat with us or not ? 

“ Oh ! who are you ?” he said, rising slowly ; “ I 
don’t know where I am, and hardly know who I 
am ; I must get back my senses how it all hap- 
pens,” and pushing back a mass of dark brown 
curls, he revealed a forehead in which George, 
with the rapidity of thought, read as he looked, 
an even development of number, order, construct- 
iveness, comparison, wit, and individuality, and 
in the fullness of his eye, language was enunci- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


283 


ated, and he thought, whoever he is, he is more 
than an ordinary man, and does not rank with the 
mediocrity of mind. 

As his senses came slowly back, the colorless 
face flushed with partial remembrance, and look- 
ing at his strange friends, he said with effort and 
much feeling, 

“ I am obliged to you beyond expression. If I 
were less weak, I would relieve you of my pres- 
ence at once; as it is, if you will allow me to 
breakfast here, and take a few hours rest, I will 
be very thankful. I feel more anxious than you 
can know ; my wife will be alarmed. Is there a 
person with a fleet horse whom I could engage to 
ride to the city with a message to her. She has 
doubtless watched through the long night, and 
she is not strong. Money is no object,” and he 
looked the picture of despair. 

Jed. will go, thought George. “ Yes, sir, I can 
find somebody ; but you would like something to 
take — you tremble, Deacon.” 

u Ido; peppermint, camphor, anything; but I 
am not a deacon. My name is Woods. I am a 
lawyer, the son of a judge.” 

“ The very dickens ! you do not mean to tell 
me you are the son of old Judge Woods of the 
Superior Court f ’ 


284 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“I do,” and while Mrs. Chubbuck got some- 
thing for him to take, George prepared to go for 
Jed. “Now I am ready,’’ he said, “and if you 
will write a note for your people and give me the 
directions, I will take it right along — here is pen, 
ink and paper.” 

Mr. Woods’ hand trembled visibly, and it was 
only a line he wrote. 

George took the message and hurried over to 
Squire Loomis’, finding Jed., as he expected, ready 
and willing, and with a parting injunction to be 
sure and say to the woman that nothing had hap- 
pened to her husband, he returned in time for 
breakfast, and as filled with enthusiasm, as if he 
had a paying job on hand. 

No allusion was made to the night before, but 
the political condition of the country, the position 
of Whigs and Democrats, and the puerility of 
the chief executive regarding some of the public 
needs. 

George found lawyer Woods a logician whose 
thoughts were readily and fluently expressed; his 
forehead examination was simply an index to the 
general man, and how thought George can it be 
possible that this man, with all his power, can fall 
a prey to the tempter. The breakfast over, the 
two men withdrew to another room, and the ques- 


BLUE RIBBONS, 285 

tion found its answer, for the courteous stranger 
was no coward, and he desii’ed to make and ask 
an explanation regarding his untimely visit. 

“Mr. Bean, I cannot rest until I know the par- 
ticulars of my entrance here. If you will tell me 
where you found me, and how your heart warm- 
ed toward a stranger. I have only an indefinite 
idea of some strange sensations passing over me, 
and the terrible thought that I should fall in the 
road and be run over and killed. Tell me about 
it.” 

“Well, Deacon, as I guess I had better call 
you, I rather like it. I was returning from the 
school house, where I had held an evening school, 
and when quite near to home, I discovered you, 
leaning against a fence, and apparently needing 
help. 

“I at once went to you, put my hand on your 
shoulder, and inquired the cause of your impeded 
progress ; your answer, though not satisfactorily 
distinguishable, gave me the knowledge upon 
which I acted, and putting my arm about you, I 
helped you along into the house, and with Mrs. 
Chubbuck’s permission, ensconced you on the 
floor, for being unable to walk, we could not offer 
you a room up stairs. That is the whole story, 
and as to how I came to do it, I should marvel at 


BLUE RIBS61TS. 


286 

myself had I left you in the road, knowing your 
condition — that is not a part of my religion. I 
had some misgivings as to how the case might 
turn with you, and thinking that perhaps a fever- 
ishness might lay hold upon your brain, made me 
a bed in the corner, with the determination of fig- 
uring and watching you, but weariness overcame 
me, and I fell asleep, nor w T oke till broad day- 
light.” 

‘ ‘ I know not how to thank you. You have saved 
my life. Tell me something I can do ; you can- 
not realize my thankfulness.” 

It is always hard for the generality of men to 
express themselves, when their deepest feeling is 
aroused ; their eyes do not overflow to relieve 
them, as do woman’s, but a certain feeling of suf- 
focation, a great pressure within, which only 
makes them more dumb, and creates powerless- 
ness. This w T as Mr. Woods’ case exactly ; he de- 
sired to express so much, that the few words he 
could utter, sounded like stray echoes in a cavern, 
and were at best, a withered leaf, compared with 
the full bloom of his soul’s thankfulness. 

Honest George appreciated this, and taking a 
wise advantage of the opportunity, drew forth the 
ever ready pledge. 

“Mr. Woods, I ask no pay, save in one way. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


287 


You are a good, true man, one of nature’s noblest, 
too valuable a mind to be lost ; live, be an orna- 
ment to society, and prove the strength in your 
good right hand, which is fit I verily believe to 
steer the ship of state, or lay hold on the lever of 
our national affairs,” and his voice, tremulous 
with feeling, lowered. “ Deacon, sign this pledge, 
I ask it as the only reward I crave.” 

Lashes fell over the brimming eyes of Mr. 
W oods ; George had struck a tender spot, and the 
tears which, in spite of everything must fall, 
melted the ice, unbound his feeling-shackled 
speech, and as he wiped them away, his loosened 
tongue spoke for him. 

“ Mr. Bean, I dare not sign that paper ; I cannot 
help it ; I speak from knowledge. Oh ! my God, 
my wife, oh ! world, oh ! all that knows and does 
not know me, would that I were able to. I am a 
victim, and I shall die, sink in my tracks, be 
frozen to death, or killed on the road ; that will 
be my fate, as inevitable as it is unjust.” 

“My dear brother say not so. You have a 
strong mind, and power to hold a tenable position. ! ’ 

“No, no, you do not understand me. I will 
tell you a secret, for to you I owe the debt of 
a life — see to it, it is kept ; forgive me sir, 1 know 


288 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


by the light in your eyes, I am safe in confiding 
to yon. 

“My mother — she is in Heaven now — God bless 
her, my poor little weak mother, was frailest of 
the frail — she gave her life for mine, and for 
months previous to and after my birth, her life 
was despaired of. Stimulant, and only that, kept 
her alive, brought me into the world, and she 
lived one year to care for me, while I drank in 
daily the poison with which my food was filled. 
Yes, from the breast of my mother drank the 
slow poison which filled me with its life, and, Mr. 
Bean, I love brandy and wine better than any- 
thing. I long for it continually, and in my earlier 
years, had no cognizance of its great power over 
me ; did not know I was a slave ; realized not the 
length and breadth of my enemy. 

“Had I known more, I might have suffered less. 
My father had always taken his bitters, and up to 
the time of my first plea in court, I drank moder- 
ately. At that time I was fearful and of course 
somewhat nervous, and with an extra draught of 
liquor, stilled my nerves and gave them also the 
strength necessary. My plea was successfully 
made, and in less than a year, with the repetition 
of extra stimulation, I came to a place where a 
passage through hell was inevitable, and experi- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 289 

enced a month of dissipation. When I came to 
my senses, and found my wife nearly killed from 
sorrow, I swore vengeance against myself, broke 
every bottle in the house that had held liquor, 
and made a solemn vow to my God and her, never 
again to do this ; but after a time of abstinence, 
which required not only moral courage, but all 
the physical strength I could muster, I succumbed 
to the pressure, and satiated the intolerable cra- 
vings of my stomach. It is now ten years since 
then, and in that time six months has been the 
extent of endurance against appetite. These pe- 
riods of abstinence have been wholly free from 
all wines, ales, or liquors, and each time I have 
fallen, it seems to me I have gone deeper in deg- 
redation. 

Long ago I put my property out of my hands, 
else I should be a poor man, and I hope, yes, I 
pray, Mr. Bean, if this must continue, that I may 
in some other way, be taken out of the world, 
from this besetting sin. 

It is a disease which none understand. There 
should be institutions in our land governed by 
men who have been resurrected from this living 
grave, if such there be, where poor victims, like 
myself, can be treated for their malady. No one 
has ever yet reached the root of this crying evil, 
13 


290 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


and the condemnation which drunkards receive, 
is in nine cases out of every ten, unjust and cruel. 
I have been tilled for a long time with my own 
rendering of this condition, its cause and cure, 
and have longed to make known my earnest con- 
viction regarding the matter, and had it not been 
for the terrible surety within, of falling myself, 
should have given my time to lecturing upon it, 
so goaded I have been with thought, but with the 
fact of my own recurring weakness, I could ven- 
ture no advice to others. If I could cure myself, 
I might be of assistance to them.” 

“Try once more, it may be you will succeed.” 

“ I do try constantly, and, as I tell you, fall. It 
is my fate.” 

‘ ‘ Brother, sign this pledge at my request. It 
certainly cannot hurry your steps forward to 

ruin.” 

“No, no, I wish I could. You do. not know 
what you ask. The signing of my name there is 
equivalent to an oath. I will not take a false 
one.” 

“A lawyer at that — you surprise me,” and 
George smiled. 

“I will tell you what I will do ; I will try, as 
I have before, meanwhile I keep you for my best 
friend in this matter. When I feel again the ta 


BLUE RIBBONS, 


29l 


rantula within me fastening itself to poison my 
life, I shall come to you, or you shall come to 
me, and it may be you will prove a needed phy- 
sician, If I can keep sober one year, I shall feel 
almost sure of myself ; then I will sign your 
pledge and circulate it.” 

“Amen,” said George ; “ I will follow you day 
and night, if I can be of any service.” 

There was a strangely written leaf in the his- 
tory of Apple Rest, at which all marvelled, and 
none more than Mrs. Chubbuck, who said: 

4 ‘George is like a drawin’ plaster, everybody 
that gets lame, halt, blind, or drunk, especially 
drunk, comes to him.” What will happen next V 1 


CHAPTER X VII. 


IMEOJST was intent on becoming informed 
regarding that of which he had known so 
little, and pursued faithfully his studies 
in grammar, geography and arithmetic, making 
more rapid progress than George dreamed of, 
which delighted him greatly. 

It was a new world to Simeon, and every day a 
revelation to his spirit ; laws which were to him 
before a dead letter, warmed with life, as he grew 
to search for that which existed, and with his 
palpitating zeal, proved the same old truth, wel- 
come through ages to the hearts of men, “Knock 
and ye shall find, ask and ye shall receive.” 
How true it is, he thought, “the letter killeth, but 
the spirit giveth life.” It is true of all that con- 
cerns man temporally and spiritually ; his soul 
sang constantly, the hymn of praise which his 
daily practice made perfect, and truly and relig- 
iously he went forward doing whatever his hand 
found to do, with all his might. 

The robins came this year as before, and, sing- 
ing in the old trees, were heard and understood, 
as from their throats came now a glad refrain, 



BLUE RIBBONS. 


293 


and “Simeon, oh! Simeon,” rose with approving, 
instead of reproving accent. 

Belinda smiled and worked the long day through, 
and was always at the gate to meet him, when the 
evening and his return from labor came. 

“Help at the proper moment saved him,” said 
George, and Hyde may well be proud of her self- 
poised, active and intelligent citizen, who will live 
to take a senatorial chair, and more than this, be 
able to fill it, and be something more than a figure- 
head. If temperance men will work, and apply 
the necessary detergents to purify and preserve 
the principle of their fellow beings, (and in doing 
this help also themselves,) there is no reason why 
their work shall not be what it ought to be, and 
receive the approval of a beneficent Father, and 
thanks of an intelligent people.” 

“Simeon shall be a great and useful man.” 
What a true prophet George was, and when in 
after years the 4 Lieutenant,’ with his wife and a 
dear little girl, sojourned in the city where he 
served in an official capacity, some who heard the 
prediction remembered and referred to it, and to 
his credit let it be said he never forgot the day of 
small things, neither the night of his peril, and 
the hand stretched forth to save. In Simeon, 
George Bean had a true and lasting friend. Ye 


294 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


shall not ask bread and receive a stone, neither 
fish and be given a serpent, and blessed was George, 
though persecuted and reviled, and falsely spoken 
of, for the sake of obedience to the law of Christ, 
which is more than all other laws, and the only 
road through which w r e may walk to the path of 
everlasting peace. 

The meetings of the Blue Ribbon Lodge grew 
in interest. It was an ever open door for ventila- 
tion of thought, and improved by those of the 
Lodge who dared to risk speech making. 

George was nearly always ready. Sometimes 
the long look ahead which lie took, leaping over 
years to stand at the side of his precious truth, 
whose proportions to him were clearly defined, 
and stood in bold relief on the horizon of mental- 
ity, operated upon him strangely ; he saw more 
than the rest, looked with the soul of prescience, 
whose eyes ignored the barriers which held their 
places in the way of others ; his thoughts had 
wings, wdiile those of his neighbors were only pin 
feathers. Of course they could not fly, but now 
and then George lost patience, and unable to 
measure himself and others also, bore down upon 
the customs of society, stormed away at the slow 
crawling of their ideas, and almost denounced his 
best friends ; he lost himself, and cried out with 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


295 


bitterness and discouragement, infinite disgust and 
impatience ; he could not wait the slow and falter- 
ing movements, and above all he feared the lack 
of moral courage. “ I tell you,” he would say, 
“ you are afraid, and of whom ? Not of God, but 
man, when your position should be such as to re- 
ceive the smiles of your God, with no reference 
to the judgment which a human being may mete 
out to you. Fear is the handmaid of error, and 
is not the child of eternity ; fear must die, but 
truth and love will live forever, and what do we 
want of perishable things ; only so far as our tem- 
poral beings are concerned, should they enter 
into our consideration, but there cease, since 
our immortal souls can take to another world 
only the things which endure forever.” 

George was right so far as his Philology, but 
unacquainted with himself and the individual 
conditions governing him. With a brain whose 
equal was. not found in Hyde ; the natural ability 
of which he was increasing by constant study ; the 
perception of all things relating to the intellect- 
ual and moral needs of the world ; he did not 
know that in his wonderfully clear reading he was 
running away from the common and central thor- 
oughfares of life and thought. 


296 BLUE RIBBONS. 

He had builded a turnpike of his own and did 
not realize it. 

“If he could be a little more like the rest of 
us,” said Mrs Chubbuck, “he’d get along with 
less fuss, but he can’t; he’s jest exactly his own 
pattern, and nothin’ else. The essence of oddity 
from every identical hair on his head to his toe 
nails, odd as Dick, with his hat band half way 
round and tucked under.” 

Even Rachel, who was as much an original char- 
acter as he, and more, for, being a woman, her 
eccentricity seemed more palpable, could readily 
see, what he ought and might gain ; also, what he 
could, and probably would lose. Many times she 
gave him advice, never charged him anything for 
it ; liked to do it ; her words running as freely 
and easily as water down an inclined plane. 

“George, mi’ dear, black your boots, get a bit 
o’ new clothes, stop mussin’ up your hair, an’ 
sprig up a bit ; then ye can go down to the city, 
an’ seat yourself among the quoloty folks ; them 
as way n’t listen to the best o’ words, if they doesn’t 
come frae a silver horn, wi’ all ye knaiiws it’ll be 
betther for ye, George, nor stayin’ here ; an’ then 
doesn’t ye know as all the best men i’ the land 
waants to be well ready for days as is to be ? 

“ Yaankees isn’t so smaart as they waayn’t 


BLUE RIBBONS. 297 

hae trouble, naw I say, George, the days’ll bring 
ye trouble. Powder’ll be smelled agin’ an’ it’s 
then I’se to hie to ould Hingland, aye, an’ the 
gells wi’ me. 

“Upon what features in the nation’s economy 
do you predicate so serious a time?” 

“ I knaaw naaw’t o’ the economy, as ye call it, 
but the managin’ is wrong and shiftless ; folks 
wi’ prosperin’ gets lazy, an’ shirks the work for 
both bodies an’ souls, an’ is willin’ to do naw’t as 
they caiin’t help. I tell ye, George, the auld ship 
o’ staate’ll run agin’ a rock while time, too great 
thinkin’ ye knaliws it, an’ too little knaawin’ an’ 
doin, maakes marks after a bit, an’ its daddlin’ 
along ye’ll be, this waay an totlier, an’ all in a 
minit, it’ll seem, when it comes, ye’ll hear the 
graate noise o’ a nation’s fury, an’ there’ll be war, 
afore its settled, I’se sure, I knaaws it. 

“ You claim to be a true prophet.” 

“Naw, I claims to hae a bit o’ sense an’ makes 
the colors o’ the days to be, frae that as I find 
to-daay ; it takes no prophet to see it ; read the 
papers a week, an’ put this an’ that together. 
An’, George, every mon as is a mon counts one, 
that’ll do to set agin a hundred, o’ the foolish fel- 
lers, an’ you should be one o’ the big toads at pud- 
dle ; one as ’ll hop clear over the big giiap in the 


298 BBTfE RIBBONS. 

Staates. Many a poor boy ’ll lose his life ; many 
a mother an’ wife ’ll mourn the graate trouble, an’ 
the poor childer ’ll die ; them as was raised tender 
and sweet’ll die on the hard an’ cruel ground, an’ 
all because ye haain’t sense, to stop the marchin’ 
on o’ ignorance. It’s all because ye knaaws nowt. 
I tells ye to dress up, mi’ dear ; it’ll do ye no hurt 
to look a bit betther.” 

“Oh, my dear sister, clothes are not what a na- 
tion wants, that will make no difference.” 

“Aye, but it will, mi’ dear, there’s nobody like 
ye, George, an’ it’s only right ye should do a bit 
as the rest wants ye. It’s not only dollars as’ 11 
come to your pocket, but the power as ye’ll gain, 
o’ makin’ great help. Few that’s fitted to do what 
ye can do; an’ there it is there’s a graand chair 
for ye to set in.” 

“Ah ! my dear sister, your logic is not sound. 
True merit ignores any attempt at diplomacy, and 
who has the right to dictate to me regarding my 
clothes ? If they desire my service, the old coat 
is as good as the new.” 

“ Ah ! ye doesn’t knaaw your own self.” 

“Let me suggest the possibility of your need- 
ing some of these new fangled arrangements to 
help you perform your part. You came among 
us, clothed in n primitive and sensible way, and 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


299 


thus far you have adhered to the style you brought. 
It might be wisdom for you to adopt some foolish 
fashion, in hope of being better able to make good 
syrups for people and George smiled. 

“ That’s a difference, George ; I’se but a small 
woman, come to sit at the woods in a bit o’ a home 
an’ gie to the folks the help, as I can, which is all 
I can do ; nayture, as made me born for settin’ 
bones, an’ doctorin’ a bit, made me never to preach 
an’ make laws, like yourself. No, I doesn’t need 
a chaange, an’ more nor that, I’d never ham- 
per miself wi’ ’long dress, an’ all the fixins o’ quol* 
oty ladies ; wi’ braided hair an’ graate long locks 
smackit down to mi’ forehead, as ud make me 
crawl ; I has betther sense.” 

“ Amen, so have I. We agree exactly.” 

“Aye, but ye needs different things to wear, 
nor ye gets ; ye knaaw well ye could never go to 
the Congress wi’ the britches up most to the knees. 
I wears better lookin’ shoes nor yours, George,” 
and she raised her stout boots for inspection, that 
he might be convinced. 

“You will do better making herb drinks than 
converting me into a fop and with an idea in 
his mind, like a small thorn in his side, he de- 
parted, talking to himself as he walked along. 
He was not blind to the necessity, in part, of obey- 


300 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


ance to conventionalities ; he was never pleased 
with a coarse, ill-bred person, had great respect 
for water, and deemed purity of the body a ne- 
cessary part of life, and yet had no thought of or 
care for clothing, farther than comfortable, loose 
fitting garments, and coats with an extra supply 
of huge pockets, and in his soul he knew, when 
he thought upon the matter, that he would never, 
could never follow in the wake of even those who, 
making no manifestations of foppishness, are sim- 
ply, plainly dressed gentlemen. He did not ex- 
actly like himself in all these ways, and some, 
times really wished he was more like others, but 
these seasons of reflection carried him always to 
the same conclusion. 

“ I cannot be held ; I must be myself or nothing, 
and if I risk all, risk it I must.” Years, as they 
grew, only carried him farther out to sea, and 
in place of decreasing the oddities which com- 
posed his eccentric make up, were as colors shad- 
ing deeper daily ; the touches of a master hand, 
which defined more closely the expression of its 
subject. 

Apple Rest was rife with sweetness ; bough af- 
ter bough of blushing blossoms hung from the 
trees, and in all the beauty of bloom, a strangely 
quiet wedding occurred, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


301 


It was over at Squire Loomis’, in the large best 
room, with Violet and Jed. in the foreground, and 
moist eyes to right of them ; moist eyes to left of 
them ; Millie Dean’s the reddest of them all : she 
not shedding a few quiet tears, but just crying 
harder and harder, from before the service until 
long afterward. Cried till she could not stop, un- 
til Mrs. Chubbuck was alarmed ; Violet nearly 
frantic and Jed. quite out of patience, that his 
sweet bride should be so rained upon. 

Only the chosen few were there; Rachel was 
one of the chosen, but refused to go, saying, 

“No, no, nor I waayn’t go to the funeral; oh 
Vielit ! sweet Vielit? beautiful flower ; God keep 
thee, darlin’.” 

George behaved extraordinarily well on this oc- 
casion, and had an extra compliment. “I never 
see you behave so well,” said Mrs. Chubbuck, two 
days after the wedding ; but, good land, how 
Millie did carry on ; she would have cried till 
now if her body hadn’t give right out, and let her 
faint clear away. She says, she shudders when 
she thinks of it, and she felt as if it was the dread- 
fullest thing that ever happened. I hope it’s all 
right; it looks so. Janey’s Addlin’ was kinder 
solemn, too ; it sounded as if some of the birds 
was sick and cryin’ kinder weak like, for the old 


302 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


bird to come. What an idee that child has ; she 
calls her fiddle her box of birds, and since she 
has seen our birds here, she is crazy to be out fid- 
dlin’, and bearin’ the birds sing in the trees, the 
whole time.” 

“She is a unique specimen of natural love and 
simplicity ; but I fear I shall never teach her that 
three times four are twelve. She is quick enough 
to perceive, and tries hard, but gains very slowly ; 
her mind appears as if pre-occupied continually.” 

“I wish I didn’t feel so, George ; I miss Yilit so, 
I can’t tell what to do with myself. If Squire 
Loomis and his wife were not alone, I wouldn’t 
consent to her goin’ there to stay; she’s my girl, 
and if Millie wasn’t with me, I couldn’t nor 
wouldn’t let her go. Mercy ! it seems a month 
now since she was married.” 

Violet was very well satisfied with her new 
home. The power of adaptibility rendered her 
compatible with every one, nearly, and consider- 
ing the good, motherly-soul Mrs. Loomis pos- 
sessed, it was no wonder that, in addressing her, 
“Mother,” fell in silvery accents. It never oc- 
curred to Violet, that she was dispossessing her 
whose face lay under the grasses, for she never lost 
sight of her love ; and so many times a day, she 
thought of little things to say to her ; and mother 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


303 


in heaven, mother and Aunt Charity, were three 
names dear, and growing dearer always. Millie 
Dean would cry her eyes out, to be forgotten, and 
then there was George, oh ! yes, Violet had num- 
bers of dear friends, but these three were the pil- 
lars against which she leaned ; advice she never 
refused, and naturally possessed of much appro- 
bation, was not fully satisfied, unless those wdio 
were nearest approved of her movements. The 
very fact of Rachel’s absence from the wedding 
grieved her, and she was not easy on that point, 
until Rachel had declared, positively, “ weddins 
w r as sad happenins hardly quieted even by this, 
still, with her new comforter, whose daily love 
and presence was the dew that woke into life 
her sweetest flowers, moistening their leaves and 
roots, and filling the days with their bouquets, 
whose beauty rivalled any she had culled alone ; 
her heart was full of gladness, and Squire Loomis’ 
whole house was redolent with the baptism of her 
innocent and fragrant presence. No daughter had 
graced their home with a needed presence, and the 
chair which had waited through the years, was 
filled. They were as happy as the two children, 
and away down in the mother-heart, a hope sprang 
up like a promise trailing green. It would be bet- 
ter for Jed.; he would find home more attractive, 


304 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Marigolds clustered, not only down at Simeon’s, 
but the very self-same flowers were over at Hardy’s 
Oven. How wonderfully strange it is that brown, 
dark earth where never a flower, except a few wild 
violets, had ever dreamed of living, smiled right 
up into the faces of Ruth and Janey, who coaxed 
their father to break the ground for two rows, 
whose beginning and ending were the gate and the 
door, and center, the walk between. 

Hollyhocks, not those which have come to us 
since this score and a-lialf ago of years, that look, 
in their white and cream-like beauty, large, double 
pinks done in wax, but just plain, single ones ; 
then, running around among the tall hollyhocks, 
and broad-faced sun-flowers, there were ruddy- 
cheeked nasturtions ; the little velvet marigolds, 
ladies’ slippers, suited to the colors of the rain- 
bow, some straight-backed, stout-breaded cardinal 
plumes that grew so proud and velvety, their 
names were cocks-combs, and just as the flowers 
thought of stopping to pay obeisance to the door- 
stone, some lazy four o’clocks looked up at you in 
the afternoon, and said, “what’s the hurry 1 Af- 
ternoon is time enough to blossom.” 

“Robins, birds and sweet posies make up 
Heaven,” said Janey. “ We'se all in the best 
place we could get.” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


305 


Free as the birds, the woods and the birds, and 
the violin and the beautiful flowers, filled full 
her every day. 

No more romantic spot than Hardy’s Oven ; no 
Gypsy to grace it prettier than laughing Janey, 
who, nimble as the squirrels whose homes she knew 
so well, dodged in and out of house and wood, 
through the long days of summer. Her talk was 
filled with strange sayings about the birds, and 
such wonderful acquaintances she made, that 
quoloty Nancy sneeringly said : 

“You get such a habit of story-telling, you’ll 
believe your own made-up nonsense yet ; who 
thinks the birds come and sit on your fiddle, and 
gather all about you \ I do not.” 

“Nancy,” and the dark eyes looked like a con- 
suming fire, “I tells naw lies; some day ye’ll 
knaaw,” and she turned from her sister as one who 
was deeply wronged. 

Nancy should have posted herself, before ren- 
dering so ungraceful a verdict, and if she could 
only have happened near the oven a few days 
after that fatal speech, she might have been as sur- 
prised as the artist who, coming from the city with 
his sketch book, partly scented out the place, and 
reassured by the sight of its oven -chimney, came 
leisurely toward it ; and paused within twenty feet 


306 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


of the oven, his gaze falling on the picture which 
had arisen before him as unconsciously as it was 
born. The tyro in art was as fixed as the ti’ee 
against which he leaned, daring not to move lest 
he should break the spell, by revealing his iden- 
tity to the nympth of the forest. 

Janey sat perched on the broad, flat stone top 
of the oven proper, her back resting against the 
chimney, her attitude as graceful as it was defi- 
ant, and the first sight caused the young man to 
wonder how she dropped so perfectly into posi- 
tion. In her hand the dear, old friend whose 
music she was invoking, and strangest of all, birds 
of many a kind were all about her, listening ap- 
parently, to her entrancing music. One little 
robin sat among the thick, short curls, and looked 
down over her forehead, on to the hand that held 
the bow, a brown thresher perched on her shoulder ; 
the third, whose dark, red wings contrasted with 
a golden breast, at the neck of her violin, the 
tremor of the instrument not in the least disturb- 
ing, and about her on every side, covering the 
oven, and adding the height of a songster to the 
chimney’s top, were birds. The sight was a novel 
one and most interesting, and when, for a few mo- 
ments, she ceased playing and spoke to her feath- 
ered companions, whom she addressed as a whole 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


307 


by her own unique title, “ New east robins,” wings 
fluttered, little feet grew restless, and two or three 
bolder than the rest, began to sing their love, but 
at a wave of her hand every motion was stilled, 
and again she played. 

Fortune favored the timorous observer, for he 
straightway seated himself, and rudely sketched 
the outlines of the picture. Never in all his life 
had he seen anything so naturally, surprisingly 
beautiful, and being unobserved it was a rare 
chance, an opportune experience though, in his 
new-born zeal, he never dreamed Janey’s inspira- 
tion would lend a charm to his untutored hand, 
and waken within, the fire which caused him after- 
wards, to lay in finest colors a reproduction of the 
scene. Janey made a fortune for an unknown 
fellow-being, and threw among the pages of his- 
tory, a picture which told all about herself, an in- 
effaceable recollection of Hardy’s Oven. 

When tired of playing she carefully laid her 
violin in its box, and with u Come ye new east rob- 
ins,” jumped to the ground, and ran as if pursued, 
the flock of birds following her, making a shadow 
in her wake, and then forming in line beside her, 
with playful flying hither and thither, and from 
their throats issued sweet music. Apparently well 


308 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


acquainted with Janey, and all her movements, 
they were having a frolic together. 

The one observer, was anxiously planning a 
mode of introduction to Janey, for he desired to 
see more of her ; must get acquainted that he 
might be able to successfully carry out the design 
with which she had inspired him, and noticing that 
she did not fail to cast watchful glances on her 
violin, he bethought himself to take a position 
near it, and hastened to do so. The first turn 
Janey took, she espied him, and ran to the rescue 
of her treasure, whose safety was comparatively 
risked ; gathering it close to her, she turned to 
face the stranger, who was leaning against the 
oven, with a strange look in her eye, half curious, 
half fearful ; she looked straight in his face, and 
his pleasant tone reassured her, as he asked : 

“ Are you fond of the woods and the birds V' 

‘ ‘ I loves the trees, and the new east robins is 
beautiful. I has a big cletch o’ birds.” 

“ Why do yon call them new east robins V’ 
“Just because they is new east robins. Janey 
never seed robins at west. ” 

“Do you come from the west?” 

“ Aye, frae Michigan.” 

“ j3ee here,” and he showed her the rude sketch. 


blue ribbons. 


309 


“Oh! birds, birds, birds, an’ Janey, an’ fiddle, 
an’ all ; how did ye do it ?” 

“I saw you sitting here, and watched you as 
you played. I would like to come again and hear 
you, so that I may make a large, beautiful pic- 
ture.” 

“Will I put on the new pink frock for ye?” 
and she looked honestly into his face. 

“Oh! no. I like the picture to look natural, 
and just as you do every day. Wear the same 
dress ; but tell me, Janey, can you call the birds?” 

“ Aye, I calls the birds wi’ fiddle, an’ the whistle 
frae mi throat. When will ye come again ?” 

“To-morrow, if pleasant; can you give me a 
drink of water ?” 

“Aye, I can ; come wi’ me to the house and see 
the sisters.” 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


« ERE comes George all in a fluster, some - 
thing extra on hand,” and Mrs. Chubbuck 
wiped her hands on the clean roller, and 
stood waiting his entrance. 

“Here I am, and I am in town, and deem it sa- 
pient to make as rapid progress in arranging my- 
self for a trip to the city, as is possible.” 

“ What’s the matter?” 

“I have a letter from Deacon Woods, who de- 
sires me to come at once, to do some work for the 
Custom House.” 

“What on earth can you do in a Custom House ? 
I don’t know what kind of a place it is, anyway.” 

“ It is a legitimate arm of the Government, my 
dear sister, aud prevents the people from cheating 
the nation. The building where customs and du- 
ties are paid ; where vessels are entered, or obtain 
their clearance papers.” 

“ Yes, I understand it now r ; its as clear as a board 
fence ; but never mind ; what can you do there ? ! ’ 

“I have been designated by the Deacon, as a 
competent person to engage for purpose of meas- 
uring the vessels in the harbor, ascertain their ton- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


311 


nage, that is to say, how many tons each vessel 
can carry.” 

“That’s an awful job, I should say. You'll 
have to fill the boats full, and then measure it out 
by the bushel. You’ll tire yourself out ; I wouldn’t 
go.” 

“No, no, my dear sister, your primitive method 
is not my guide. I compute the tonnage by meas- 
uring the dimensions of the vessel.” 

“ Oh !” and a light dawned upon the darkness; 
“ well, what can I do for you?” 

“ I must take a clean shirt, and a dickey, I sup- 
pose, for he writes that my services may be required 
during one month. Eben will come over and milk 
while I am away.” 

“Foolish Eben !” said Millie, “ what can we do 
with him ?” 

“He is teachable, especially so with sister Chub- 
buck, for whom he entertains a high regard ; but 
Jed. would come over, I presume ; perhaps I 
ought to intrust you to his care.” 

“No, no, never mind that, we’re all right, and 
if we get lonesome, we’ll send for Janey and her 
fiddle; you get yourself ready. Til brush your 
clothes, and for pity’s sake do try to keep loookin’ 
a little decent. You aint a goin’ to wear that big 
white hat, be you ? your other one looks enough 


3i2 


BLUB RIBBONS. 


better. I wish I’d burnt it up, so you never could 
found it.” 

“Ah ! my dear sister, this white hat is invalu- 
able to me. I would not exchange it for a dozen 
of your new fangled ones. Of course I shall 
wear it.” 

“ You aint really a goin’ to, are you?” 

“ Certainly I am,” and as he departed Mrs. Chub- 
buck looked regretfully after him, musing aloud 
upon his oddity.” 

“He’ll wear that hat a hundred years, if he 
don’t lose it ; it just caps the climax. Why didn’t 
I burn it up?” 

“Up at Hardy’s Oven, over at Squire Loomis’, 
down at Apple Rest, and at Simeon’s, George was 
terribly missed. The evening schools were, of 
course, abandoned, and the summer vacation brood- 
ing over all, made schoolhouse-hill a lovely unten- 
anted spot. Rachel declared it was like having 
everybody dead, and just at this particular time 
she needed him moi’e than ever. She went down 
to Apple Rest to free her mind, and shed some 
tears, and if the worthy teacher had been there he 
might have comforted her, while Mrs. Chubbuck 
and Millie could only give their sympathy minus 
advice. They knew the moment she entered, some- 
thing annoyed her. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


313 


“Set down, Rachel ; wliat makes you so down 
in the mouth ? You look as blue as a whetstone. ” 

“I’se in trouble, mother Charity; solid trouble 
as I never waauted to hae come to me, oh ! dear ! 
dear ! an’ its quoloty Nancy all day, an’ quoloty 
Nancy in mi dreams ; what ’ll I do wi’ the gell, is 
more nor I knaaws.” 

“Is she sick?” 

“Sick? naw, but as well an’ as brisk as a floun- 
derin’ fish, an’ as thorny as the thorn tree itself. 
She turns not around wi’out lnirtin’ some o 1 us, 
an’ Ruthy’s gotten tired on her; John does nawt 
but growl, an’ Janey cries her eyes red at ween 
her frolics — quoloty Nancy, the gell as gies us 
all such trouble.” 

“What can be the matter? do tell me.” 

“ Matters enough to kill the heailrt o’ her poor 
mother an’ all, an’howiver 1 does, there’s nawt ’ll 
suit mi’ lass; she’s on the high roaad, is Nancy, 
an’ fuller o’ pride nor eggs wi’ meat. A gell as 
belongs to a queen couldn’t hae more o’ high head 
nor she, an’ what’ll we do? John ’Ardy says as 
it’s me is to fix it all, fur he tells me, as I waaynt 
be satisfied wi’out the waay I thinks is best, an’ 
it’s true; I doesn’t try to get awaay frae truth, 
yet I sees naw waay fur the proud gell as waants 
to be fine. 


14 


314 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


It’s to go to boardin’ school, to go to the city, 
an’ get in wi’ the track o’ the lasses there, an’ why 
caiint this gel! be satisfied like Janey an’ Ruth, 
an’ wi’ George to teach her, who knaaws more nor 
all the rest; I saiiy, she should be well pleased to 
staay at Ardy’s Hoven, an’ what can I do wi’ her. 
Its neither preacliin’ or laiishin’ as maakes the 
mind suited, and then there’s the dollars, she 
knaaws well as she can goa, fur we hae plenty o’ 
dollars, an’ she blaames, an’ cries, an’ tells me as 
how did I love her, I’d clap both hands to see her 
go, an’ be laiirn’t in a lady’s school. I can do nowt ; 
bitters to make I has fur ould corn cobby Deekin’s 
wife, an’ I knaaws nowt, doees nowt, an’ all fur 
quoloty Nancy, the poor foolish gell as owt hae 
more sense, aye, an’ has gotten more nor she 
uses, an’ that only makes it worse ; oh ! dear, 
dear !” and Rachel cried aloud, weaving her body 
to and fro in her strange fashion. 

Mrs. Cliubbuck hardly knew what to say ; still 
she must try to do something to comfort the poor 
woman who had fought against this turn in the 
tide until nearly worn out. It was very evident 
that Nancy would carry the day, for her mother 
had only one oar left, and in her distress, weak- 
ness would oompel her to drop that ; policy and 
wisdom both were consulted, and at last a gate 


BLtTE RIBBONS. 


315 


opened into the road of the present necessity, and 
Mrs. Chubbuck passed through. 

“See here, Rachel,” and she stirred anew the 
tire, setting over the kettle for tea ; “ now it seems 
to me you don’ t need to feel quite so bad about 
Nancy. I’ve always said she was an uncommon 
smart girl ; I know she is different from your 
blessed, motherly Ruth, but that ain’t anything 
strange.” 

“Naw, she Avas discontented frae birth, an’ be- 
fore too.” 

“We must not blame her too much ; I think it 
very natural for her to want to go away and 
see a little more of the Avorld than she gets here 
among the hills. It ’ll be a little different from 
bein’ in a house of her own, where she has a right 
to frown or smile, jest as she pleases. I wouldn’t 
Avonder if it’d do her good. I guess it’ll come to 
you just what to do ; I don’t feel able to advise 
you strong, one way or another, only, one thing 
I do knoAV, when we get to the end of one lane 
another one opens. ‘ A long road that has no turn.’ 
Now, Ave’ll have some supper, and you get quiet, 
you ’ll be sick next yon knoAV.” 

Millie ventured to suggest that George, being in 
the city, might find a suitable school, adding, “I 
will write to him about it if you desire.” 


316 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ Aye Millie, do mi’ dear ; I guesses I’ll let her 
go, ” and before the cheerful tea was over, Rachel’s 
face was quite changed, so much so, that when 
her husband came, he greeted her with, “Ye look 
brightened up owd ’ooman, an’ ye beant sewer as 
ye’ll die.” 

“Naw, I’se not to die, and I say, John Ardy, 
we’se to let the gell go to the city.” 

“Arter ye’se cried an’ cried, an’ made yersel’ 
sick, she ’ll hae ’er oan way to ersen. I thowt ye’d 
let her goa, an’ the botherin’ fuss, has tired ye 
liowt, an’ it’s pity ye niver not coom over afore.” 

“Keep still, John Ardy; settle yoursel’ fur a 
cup o’ hot tea, an’ stop the scaaldin’ . I’se suffered, 
aye, I’se sick.” 

He smiled good naturedly, and seated himself 
for the “cup o’ tea, and bit o’ bread,” which was 
all he said he wanted. 

The stalwart settler carried with him a strong 
feeling of well-applied content, and his giant 
frame held a good heart; one whose warmth of 
feeling you felt, whenever he came near; just the 
man to keep every fence about his farm in good 
order, to make the best use of all his land, and 
produce all that could be raised from every inch 
of ground. Looking, not with restless, uneasy 
vision, out into the future days, he made the best 


BLUE BIBBOm 


317 


of all within his reach, neglecting nothing, and 
forever well-doing, the contented and faithful 
worker received a daily benediction. John Hardy 
- was at constant peace with himself, his family and 
friends. 

George received Millie’s letter, and replied in 
due season; he had to send a wail of regret for 
Nancy’s choice, which Millie smothered without 
giving it a chance to reach the ears of Rachel, but 
announced the fact of having found a pleasantly 
situated school, with tractable and amiable teach- 
ers — two maiden sisters. The terms he considered 
high, but they were nevertheless approved, and 
George delegated to arrange for Nancy, and Har- 
dy’s Oven was filled with the smiles of the de- 
lighted girl. Her mother acceded to every wish 
except one, and there she stepped clear out of 
reach, on to the scaffolding of better sense, cry- 
ing down from overhead. 

“Naw, 111 not get a black silk dress fur ye ; 
the next ’ll be diminds an’ precious stones ; ye’se 
born fur summat else than to be bedizened out, 
an’ I waayn’t get no silk.” 

U I can wait,” was the pert reply, “ but a silk 
dress I’ll have.” 

“Oh!” said Ruth ; “child, how can you talk 
so % Do be thankful ! I fear we may, some day, 


-318 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


have less, if we grow to be thankless girls. Never 
say such words again,” whereat, Nancy fell to 
crying and bemoaning the lack of love. What 
a pity the cloud must have arisen ! The sky ought 
to have kept all clear to the day of her departure, 
but her tornadoic wrath was always at hand. 

There was much to be done ; many stitches for 
Ruth to take, though Nancy helped considerably 
on her clothes, and knit yards of lace from linen 
thread. Violet gave her the pattern, and Ruth 
really wished it had been skillfully manipulated 
by time and decay, ere she had seen it, for with 
the care lavished on taste, too much time was con- 
sumed, still she said nothing, but sewed right on, 
improving all the time she could get ; rising early, 
and going to bed late. The best dress was one of 
pure white lawn of linen liber, and as for linen, 
Nancy boasted more, than thirty years after date, 
could be found, save in the wealthiest families, for 
cotton threads were few in her wardrobe, and. how 
beautifully made all her garments were ; faggot- 
edged ruffles were many, and every bit of gather- 
ing was two and four, taking two threads and leav- 
ing four. Why, the Queen herself, would ask for 
no nicer clothes than those, which were whiter than 
s now, and as smooth as hot irons deftly handled 
could make them. The dresses were five in num- 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


319 


ber, and that was a great many Janey thought, 
and from the pink calico to the linen lawn, with 
its visite to match, trimmed with a quilled ruffle 
of the same, edged with narrow linen lace, all 
was complete and perfectly suited to her. Ruth 
was proud of her sister’s fair complexion, and the 
white neck and arms, which gleamed like marble, 
were admirably set otf by the low necks and short 
sleeves, which were to Janey new east notions. 

George was doing well for himself, in the city. 
His advent created a ripple of excitement among 
those he met. That white hat would have been 
annihilated, had mother Charity been with him. 

He would have found himself hatless upon the 
first morning after his arrival ; but what did George 
care? Why, he hardly heard the voices of those 
ragged, dirty-faced urchins, who had just come 
up Topsy-like, and when his friend Woods, stop- 
ping suddenly, brandished his cane as if it were a 
bowie knife, and shouted, “Look out there, no 
more of that !” he had to inquire the trouble. 

“Why, where are you, Professor? It is your 
white hat that makes all the rumpus. Those boys 
have followed us for three blocks, and the nearer 
we get to the dock, the worse it will be.” 

“ Oh ! is that all ? Well, let me see, ah ! I see 
no — I have lost the thread of my thought, in 


320 


BLUE KIBBONS. 


thinking of those foolish boys, and the fact of my 
hat eliciting unrelishable remarks, and those which 
issue only from rudely, ignorant minds, reminds 
me that it has been through time true, that any 
deviation from a generally accepted course, is re- 
garded as an almost heinous crime. The man who 
first carried an umbrella, was a Londoner, and 
subjected in that city, through whose streets he 
walked, to the cries, not only of the boys, but men 
and women added their sneers, and it was three 
years before another person dared to risk a para- 
chute.” 

“Is that true?” said Lawyer Woods; “if I 
have read it, it is forgotten.” 

“ Not only true but a simple and pertinent fact, 
one which gives us the key note to the irregular 
manifestations of men ; the cause of unjust attacks 
upon all sides, for to wear a hat of a different color, 
or have a new thought which is eminently fitted 
to assist in our salvation, is to open the door for 
an assault. No thought is exercised, reason ig- 
nored, and men of all degrees rush blindly for- 
ward to throw dirt into the eyes of the innocent 
victims. How long, oh ! Lord, how long?” 

“Sure enough, Professor; I have thought of 
nearly the same things many times. It is a fact, 
that in the different pursuits of life, where the 


BLUE RIBBONS. 32l 

track has been surveyed, if not entirely made ready 
for our feet by our fathers, we walk along in a 
prescribed way, forgetting to question if there be 
other and better ways for us. The fact is, we lose 
the freshness of innocence soon after we merge 
from boyhood, and learn to consider no friendship 
in trade, which has the effect of blunting our sen- 
sibilities, and while we may skim over the ocean 
of life, and be called by the world responsible 
men, there is, after all, no real satisfaction in our 
hearts like that which might arise, no feeling of 
innate thankfulness for our having been born, 
and, I am sorry to confess it, but in my heart 
arises no pleasure at the thought of leaving this 
earth ; it is hard work for me to believe there is 
anything beyond.” 

A shudder passed over George, as he replied 
earnestly ; 

“ Oh ! my dear brother, do not entertain so hard 
a belief. It is an insult to the Father of us all, 
for if there is no better condition than that which 
belongs to the flesh- environed souls of men, we 
are of all creatures most miserable, and our few 
years of contaminated misery render no reward to 
either God or his children. We know that we are 
not the creatures of chance ; as for me, the con- 
struction of the human frame, with its multiplier 


322 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


ity of muscles and bones, and the miles of nerves 
that traverse the system, is positive proof of a de- 
ific life, of which we are the product ; therefore, I 
reason in this wise, that the frame which only 
holds an animate spirit, is simply made and given 
to us as a means of expression, whose greatest 
utility is in its ability to help us to the concentra- 
tion of thought and knowledge, which, instead of 
dying when the book is worn out, leaves an inef- 
faceable record on the chart of the soul. I look 
upon this state as a preparatory one, and feel that 
it is highly incumbent upon every child of the 
sod, to realize this truth, ‘Ye are the temples for 
the living God to dwell in.’ I do not entertain 
even a suspicion of blackened souls. I believe 
that the spark of eternal love within us, is suffi- 
ciently recognizable to declare our kinship with 
the soul of things, and every day reveals more and 
more of the blunders which arise from misappre- 
hension regarding ourselves and our neighbors. 

“The mountains are old, but thought is forever 
new, and here, to-day, we must go the other side 
of the flood, to begin the gathering to ourselves of 
that which we hungering cry for day and night. 
Oh ! for the uncovering of the souls within us, for 
the baptism which shall entirely remove the filth 
which has gathered and congealed a hardened 


BLUE EIBB0NS. 


323 


crust, that out from the debris of the present the 
souls of men shall stand in their pristine purity. 
God speed the time when the name of man shall 
be a synonym of all that is eternal and true !” 

“You are a real, live preacher, Professor ; I fear 
the pulpit, and not the field, is your proper place. ’’ 

“Oh! no, I must be a laborer in the vineyard, 
and mix regularly these good thoughts with all 
the work I do— honest work and thought go nat- 
urally together, and shading his eyes with his 
hands, George looked out over the harbor. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


'^^ERE to-day and there to-morrow.” 



Millie Dean was reading with pleasure a 


C Wy)J letter announcing the arrival of George. 
The month had been a long one, and the fearless 
exponent of right, would be most welcome, his letter 
was a breath from his very soul ; his reception by 
his new made and earnest friend Mr. Woods, and 
the apparent confidence in him which through the 
courtesy of city officials had been made manifest, 
made his month of hard labor (for no matter how 
much help was given him he invariably did the 
work himself) a pleasant pastime and more than 
this, he saw much prospective work, and was al- 
ready engaged to survey for a breakwater. His ob- 
ject in writing the letter was indicative of the man, 
for after delivering himself as regarded his stay en- 
tering into a graphic description of the most ami- 
able hostess, whose kindly supervision of his needs 
had caused him to be grateful, he added, “Now 
to the great necessity which prompts the writing 
of this epistle. I desire to bring my friend Woods 
to home with me. He has experienced of late, 
gome disagreeable appetitie admonitions, and if I 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


325 


leave him to his fate, I shall neglect a duty, and 
lay myself open to a serious charge. 

I cannot stay here, and if he can be with me, I 
have faith that by bearding the lion in its den, I 
may strike a death blow, to this menacing curse, 
and thereby help one of God’s best men to remain 
inviolate ; he is tremulous with fear, and daring 
not to let his wife know of it, I propose to have 
him with me through this trial, and since his 
wife’s sisters are here at present, it will be an op- 
portune moment for rescue. 

“If you, Mrs. Chubbuck, are nervous about it, 
I am sure Simeon will help us through. I have 
had a long and earnest consultation with the fami- 
ly physician, and obtaining from him remedies 
for an emergency, feel there is no cause for great 
alarm, since the man is really in earnest, and de- 
pending on me for help in the hour of peril. 

“Unless I hear to the contrary, we shall pre- 
sent ourselves two days hence,” and Millie looked 
to her listener for an answer. 

A long drawn sigh, and only one escaped her, 
and then the pleasant determination which always 
came into her face with the birth of conviction, 
settled like a calm on the surface of the troubled 
waters. It was oil in the hand of reason, and with 


326 


BLUE RIBBON’S. 


a faltering but a clear and steady voice her words 
came. 

“ Wall, spose its best to let him come, and I 
don’t feel scart a bit about it, but George ’ll have 
more’n his share to tend to, there’s a good deal 
of backslidin’ goin’ on in Hyde, I reckon, and 
only yesterday Rayne told me George better come 
home and look out for the stray sheep. I looked 
him right in the eye, and said to him in a voice of 
Christian earnestness, “Satan is alius on hand, 
but thank the Lord he don’t get me to help him 
tempt the poor weakly brothers ; we can’t be too 
careful about that, nor give ’em too much help 
he dropped his eyes, and the half snicker he had 
well started, slunk back into his throat ; he knew 
what I meant. We must let Mr. Woods come, 
and give him the best room. I used to hate to 
have genteel city folks around, but I’ve got all 
over that, we are richer with vegetables and fresh 
eggs and milk and good butter on hand, than the 
biggest land owner in the city.” 

“ I expected you would say so, Mrs. Chubbuck. 
It makes me nervous ; what if he should have the 
tremens, oh ! my, I can hardly bear to think of it.” 

Apprehensive Millie had a horror of these dire 
extremities to which in their great suffering men 
are carried, and never in all her life had she ex- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


327 


perienced any trouble from old king Alcohol. She 
thought about going over to stay with Violet, but 
checked herself with, “Millie Dean, you ungrate- 
ful girl, you know you would not go and leave 
mother Charity.’’ No, of couse she would not, 
and it was Millie herself in her chintz dress and 
dainty ruffled apron, who stood on the verandah 
with Mrs. Cbubbuck to welcome George and his 
friend. 

Mr. Woods was a noble looking man, and his 
step was firm, his smile pleasant and his hand 
grasp, strong and friendly, as he greeted the occu- 
pants of Apple Rest. Surely this man cannot fall 
again, thought Millie ; his eye is too bright, his 
will too strong, oh ! no he cannot fall again. So 
thought Mrs. Chubbuck, and while these two 
hearts saw not the strength their good thoughts 
made, the current of their feelings nevertheless 
went warm and strong to the needful heart in their 
midst, and while it sang, this heart of a fellow be- 
ing responded gratefully. Why it was just what 
he needed, they were not afraid of his downfall, 
and he would not disappoint them ; no, the very 
thought strengthened him, and when Simeon came 
over, and with his manly presence awoke anew 
the story of his life which George had confidingly 
related, another link grew in the chain of support, 


B28 


BLTTE RIBBONS. 


and with unfaltering faith, he went to his room to 
sleep and dream of a long, clear day of intellectu- 
al sunshine, waking refreshed and glad with the 
music of a new-born purpose in his soul, and in 
his ears the echo of the early song the blue bird 
sang so near his window, and as he looked out 
over the hills and into the clear blue sky, whose 
face had been touched with morning’s rosy lingers, 
he said aloud, “Not until ye become as little child- 
ren, can ye enter the kingdom of heaven.’’ I am to 
be born again, Mary, my precious, blessed wife, 
can you hear me say it ? I will write you a long 
letter to-day, and till it with this sunshine, and 
his eyes grew lustrous in their humid beauty, as 
he turned to greet George who was ever at hand, 
always on duty. 

“Good morning, Professor.” 

“Hurrah, here Deacon; are you speculating 
on the felicities of rurality % 

“I am indeed; I feel that I am about as near 
Heaven as 1 can get; I wish Mrs. Woods were 
here with me ; I have half a mind to retire from 
business for a time. I believe I need a little rest, 
and such a place as this, is inspiring to thought. 
I might write some eligible campaign speeches 
against the time of need. Get them ready for the 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


329 


fall election. I fear I shall be expected to talk a 
little.” 

That is a good idea ; we will send for your wife, 
and have a real joyful time together ; but sister 
Chubbuck says breakfast is waiting,” and such 
breakfasts as these at Apple Rest, were always 
worth having ; so thought George ; so thought 
Mr. Woods ; so thought everybody. 

The old time 4 governor’s chair,” with its rush 
bottom and straight back, made of posts each 
side, which held the three inch slats between, 
waited on the pleasant verandah with an invita- 
tion to be seated, which Mr. Woods gratefully 
accepted after the meal. There he sat and wrote 
a long letter to his wife, ending with the promise 
to share with her a long and happy vacation in 
this country home, to which he obtained Mrs. 
Chubbuck’ s assent, and added a postscript to that 
effect. No tremor in his hand ; no dry, feverish 
feeling in his throat ; no terrible gnawing in his 
stomach ; no, he never even thought of the secret 
fear which had spread its dark wings over him 
before he came, and the day went on, to the wait- 
ing night, peaceful and calm. 

It was then, just about sunset, a little wonder- 
ment arose at George’s non-return from Hardy’s 
Oven, whither he went to call. 


330 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“ He’s found some crow’s nest to tend to, I’ll 
warrant,’’ suggested Mrs. Chubbuck, and a mo- 
ment after the “ hoot-toot- toot- whee,’’ of foolish 
Eben, sounded in the distance ; he came in foam- 
ing haste, and Mrs. Chubbuck, who had learned 
to read him, knew there was trouble. 

“ What is it, Eben 1” she cried. 

“ Hoot- toot-toot- whee !” 

“Oh ! laws of mercy, yes; but now stop cuttin’ 
up, Eben, where is George : do you know 1” 

“ Hoot-toot- toot-whee, George, Abel, wh-e-ew,” 
and he looked in the direction of the road. 

“Where be they, tell at which he seized her 
arm and fairly dragged her to the gate ; she looked 
north, and, raising both hands, screamed in an 
agony of fear, “Millie! Mr. Woods! George! 
George !” 

Mr. Woods and Millie gained the desired point 
simultaneously, and a second later, the double 
team of Squire Loomis, with Abel Bent and George, 
dashed past them, the horses running at full 
speed ; they had evidently been running a dist- 
ance, and their necks were circled in foam. George 
seemed endeavoring to stop them, and Abel, crazy 
with liquor, was rolling from side to side, swear- 
ing at George, and trying with all his might to 
get the reins. As they passed the gate, the latter 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


331 


came near falling from the carriage, so vigorously 
Abel pushed him, and his hat falling off, he cried 
“look out for the papers,” and on they shot ; the 
road was straight, for a little distance ahead, 
and then came a sharp turn, bounded by two 
huge boulders : stakes driven by mother nature, 
which thus far were intact. 

“Oh !” cried Mrs. Chubbuck, and “oh !” shud- 
dered tearful Millie ; “ My God,” said Mr. Woods, 
“he will be killed,” and hatless and bonnetless, 
the three, with foolish Eben also, ran after them. 
Mrs. Chubbuck’s lameness was better, but her 
limbs guaranteed no such pace as that which she 
took, looking eagerly at the turn in the road, feel- 
ing sure that both must be thrown out and killed. 

“ Oh !” rent the air, as it issued from the three 
throats, and against a boulder ran the carriage 
with such force as to lift it into the air, George 
and Abel tumbling out at separate sides, and the 
horses, maddened with fear, cleared themselves 
from the harness and ran on. 

Both men lay for a moment stunned, and then 
George, recovering a little, made an effort to rise. 
It was a painful one ; his left arm, which he out" 
stretched in his fall, to save himself, was al- 
most useless ; the wrist being stubbed, and hand 
without feeling ; his shoulder hurt him terribly; 


332 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


he thought it was dislocated, and the gravel in 
his face and eyes, the blood streaming from his 
mouth, and a ghastly cut on the forehead, made 
him a sorrowful picture ; but he smiled as his 
friends came up to him, and with their help gained 
his feet ; his strength was not great, however, and 
he settled back on the ground, saying, I am not 
much hurt, look to Abel, he must have hit the big- 
stone. 

“ Never mind him, George, tend to yourself.” 

t; Look to Abel,” he said ; and they were forced 
to obey; finding him bruised and senseless; the 
sides of his head were badly cut ; he was to all 
appearance seriously injured. 

They raised him up, and Eben, who was not too 
foolish to be serviceable, and had run back to the 
house at the first sight of blood, returned with a 
pail of water, and an old tin dipper, which he 
found at the back door. 

The w'ater was just what was needed, and helped 
to bring poor Abel to a partial consciousness, and 
• George, rinsing his mouth, discovered that three 
teeth were missing ; he also, gaining strength, 
found that his shoulder was not broken, and was 
able to give Abel support, and with Mr. Woods 
at one side of the poor fellow and he at the other, 
they walked slowly toward the house, Mrs. Chub- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


383 


buck feeling all pity for George, and well pro- 
voked with Abel. Where the horses were no one 
knew, but foolish Eben understood that they 
wanted Squire Loomis to know about it, and with 
George’s note of explanation tied about his neck, 
started off with his “hoot- toot-toot- whee,” break- 
ing the air of fast approaching night. 

It was after dark before Abel was sufficiently 
recovered to go to his home, whither George in- 
sisted on accompanying him. Mr. Woods de- 
clared his intention of going, but George refused 
his company, fearing that he might have to stay 
all night. 

“You ain’t a goin’ to stay there, with your cut 
head and lame shoulder, and half broken j*iw ; I 
should think you was crazy,” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck. 

“My dear sister, I fear if 1 leave him, he will 
stai't off on the wrong road.” 

Let him then ; and here you’ve got this Mr. 
Woods here; what about him?” 

“I shall ask Simeon to come over here.” 

“Yon ain’t a goin’ to stay there; you shan’t 
do it ; not if I have to send Millie over there with 
you.” 

“ I am afraid to leave him.” 

“Wall, I don’t care if you be. You are just 


334 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


shook to pieces ; you must promise me to come 
back.” 

“I promise,” he replied; and as he passed 
through the gate, his good friend remarked, 

“I’ll bet a dollar he’s got some notion into his 
head, he’ll manage some way to have Abel watch- 
ed. You might know anybody as drunk as he 
was never’ d be killed. If George had been that 
side he’d have been picked up dead. I’m afraid 
he’s worse hurt than he thinks.” 

“This man is one whom Mr. Bean has rescued 
is he?” asked Mr. Woods. 

“Yes, lie’s fished him out of deep water, forty 
times over. I don’t know how many times he has 
signed the pledge, in the last ten months, and 
George sticks to him, and a lot more of ’em, that 
can’t keep their word ; no such thing as their do- 
in’ it, and still he’s bent on believin’ it’s his duty 
to run and race, set up nights and buy bread for 
’em, and do more than their own brothers would. 
I think it’s all wrong to tug folks along as he does, 
but the mountains will open and swallow George, 
before he’ll give up.” 

“He is one of a thousand, a man without par- 
allel in goodness ; I dare not say he is wrong in 
any of his ideas, though we all know, had he stud- 
ied his own interests he would be one of our law- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


335 


makers to-day. He would have made a splendid 
lawyer; we had a little taste of his ability in 
the city, he chanced to witness the arrest of a poor 
drunkard near the dock, one day, when we were 
down there on business, and became at once inter- 
ested. When his business arrangements were com- 
plete, I went with him as he desired to the jail, 
and heard one of the strangest and most interest- 
ing of conversations between the poor fellow and 
Mr. Bean. In his own peculiar way he drew forth 
an almost graphic narrative of suffering, and want, 
caused by the appetite for strong drink, and when 
we left the cell, promised to be at the trial, which 
occurred in the City Court the following day. I 
accompanied him, and at his request omitted to 
introduce him to the judge, who is my personal 
friend. 

The trial was nearly concluded and the judge 
about to pass sentence of imprisonment and line, 
when, rising, Mr Bean said : 

“Your honor, I beg leave to state a few facts in 
extenuation of the grave charges, which are laid 
at our defenceless brother’ s door. I am a strang- 
er to your honor, but trust the presence of my 
friend, Mr. Woods, a sufficient guarantee to my 
sanity, and well meaning purpose,” and he bow- 


336 


BLUE RIBBON'S. 


ed gravely to the astonished judge who of course 
politely accorded him the favor asked. 

Then followed a heart- touching appeal, the pris- 
oner cried aloud, tears ran over the cheeks of the 
hard looking fellows, whose faces looked as if tear- 
forgotten. My own eyes were full, the astonished 
judge had a great deal of extra swallowing to do, 
and with the close of the most earnest and eloquent 
speech I ever heard, the judge clearing his throat, 
imposed the payment of costs of court only, upon 
the prisoner, this of course he was unable to 
meet, and without hesitation Mr. Bean arose. 

“ I will pay them, your honor ; our friend is not 
i n condition to do it himself, ” and putting Iris hand 
in his pocket, drew forth his wallet, which, to his 
astonishment, was not sufficient for the small sum 
required. “Ah !” he said, with a dubious expres- 
sion, “ I must have gotten the wrong wallet, I ought 
to have enough to pay that.” 

Let me lend it to you, said Judge L., in a tone 
of pleasantry. 

“Exactly, thank you sir ! and stepping forward 
he took the judge at his word, and received the 
money, while the court room was converted into 
a demonstration of hurrahs and hand clapping. 

As we came out one poor old drunkard who is in 


1BLTJE EIBB0XS. 


337 


the lockup five days out of every seven, cauglit 
Mr. Bean’s hand, and said with great anxiety : 

“Come again, the city needs such as you, the 
drunkard’s lawyer, sure that’s what you are.” 

I shall always regret that his lines have not been 
cast in places where with his legal ability, he could 
have distinguished himself, as he surely would, 
had his surroundings been conducive to such de- 
velopment. 

When George returned, it was plain to all con- 
cerned that Abel was not to be left alone. George’s 
bright eyes told the story, and he acknowledged 
that Simeon was to watch over him, until he was 
safely dreaming, and in the morning the birds 
who get up early, saw George go out of the gate 
and over the meadows, and across to Abel’s, and 
heard him say, “I must exercise great care and 
supervision.’’ 


15 


CHAPTER XX. 


« ) EWS of the accident had reached Hardy’s 
Oven, and Rachel and Janey came over 
to Apple Rest, filled with fear, lest “Bine 
Ribbins” was badly hurt ; bearing in their arms 
leaves, crisp and green. 

Gteorge met them at the door. 

“Hurrah! here is the priestess of Hyde, and 
the minstrel of Michigan is with her ; now for a 
good time.” 

“Aye, Gaiirge, ye looks as if ye had been w T i’ 
too good a time ; is ye hurt bad, mi’ dear ? Janey 
an’ me could rest no more, when we lieerd o’ the 
ride ; how is it wi’ ye, Gaiirge V ’ and her blue eyes 
filled with tears. 

“ Oh ! I am all right ; my face has swelled dur- 
ing the night from the too forcible extraction of 
teeth ; I picked out a small piece of my jawbone, 
a moment ago, and my head feels a little larger 
than usual ; the blow on my forehead appears to 
have pretty much closed up one eye, but never 
mind me ; let me introduce you to our professor 
of legality, Deacon W oods ; this is our minister- 
ing sister, Rachel Hardy, from the land of the 


blue ribbons. 339 

pioneers ; she came from the west, hundreds of 
miles, to find our eligible settlement, and is one of 
the greatest helps.” 

“Aye, how does ye do, sir,” dropping a half 
courtesy, and extending her hand ; Janey, love, 
shake hands wi’ the gentleman, but away wi’ more 
compliments, summat is to be done for these 
bruises— ye must be careful about the face. I hae 
brought summat,” and throwing aside the sun- 
bonnet, she went to work with leaves and hot wa- 
ter, and soon had a bath ready, and insisted on 
binding large oak and walnut leaves on both face 
and forehead, throwing others into cold water and 
bidding him renew them every half hour. 

“John ’Ardy brought us to crossing, and now 
he’es to soon taiike us awaiiy. We’se to go to see 
the poor lad Bent, an’ Vielit. I hae summat to 
do for both o’ these,” and she turned to go from 
the room, and then suddenly dropping into a 
chair, she looked at Mr. Woods a moment, and 
asked , 

“ Ha’e ye got a fever-sore?” 

“I have,” he replied, starting with surprise. 

“I tliowt so by the look o’ the eye, an’ you tries 
to heal it over, doesn’t ye?” 

“ I do ; it is a constant torment to me.” 

“Stop such foolishness ; whoever thinks o’ mak- 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


840 

in’ a bridge on the breast o’ a dam fur a sure 
roaiid, gets hawful mistaaken. You ’re doin’ it all 
wrong, and if the sore was betther treated, ye ’ll 
hae a bet ther stomach ; oh ! dear, dear ! queer is the 
feelin’s ye hae in your stomach.” 

“You surprise me, madam. I really cannot 
see how you know these things.” 

‘ ‘ Oh ! I gets the love o’ doctorin’ people frae 
waiiy back ; an’ the minute I gets eye on man or 
woman, I knaaws how they feels— all folks does, 
that loves to doctor, I think, but then I don’t tell 
ye that I can doctor all ; naw, there’s summat in- 
side o’ me, a little spring o’ common sense as tells 
me who I may do for, an’ them, an’ only them I 
tends to ; but I say, mi’ dear sir, if ye’ll let me, 
I’ll do ye graiite good — the more ye dams up this 
fire inside, the worse it is. Ye look strong, but 
John ’Ardy would tire ye i’ three minits. Come 
an’ let me cure ye, an’ then take your bit o’ a 
wife and go wi’ me an’ the gel Is across the sea. 
Gaarge telled us in letther, as ye hae a good wife, 
aye, an’ he said ye hae a grand place, but snap- 
pit the fingers at all the pictures an’ sp ringin’ seats 
if ye’s sick. Will ye let me do it?” 

“ Certainly I will ; and as I am going to board 
here until fall, with my wife, it happens nicely.” 

“Aye, but 3^e ’ll come to the Hoven.” 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


341 


“Yes, if I know I’m not to be roasted.” 

“Aye, good for ye ; now I ’se off to see Vielit.” 

“ Well, when shall I see you again?” 

“When I gets ready; pretty soon mi dear; 
come Janey, here’s feyther, and the wee white 
flower is waitin’, Gaarge, you ’s to do no friskin’ 
after the draiini drinkers while this day week. 
Hear, an’ obey,” and away she flew. 

Mr. Woods was amazed ; looked as if a thun- 
der-bolt had dropped at his feet, and awakened 
him too suddenly from the sleep of years. He 
rose, walked to the window, ran his hand through 
his hair, fumbled at his watch chain, looked out 
of the window, cleared his throat, and at last 
spoke. 

“I declare this is a new experience; a fever- 
sore is not an every-day occurrence with the ma- 
jority, and as valueless as it is important ; still, I 
somehow feel to trust this woman — wliat a pecul- 
iar eye ; why, it seemed to me when I met her 
gaze, that she was ferreting out my entire life. 
She looks like a — I was about to say a witch ; that 
is too ungraceful a title ; but she certainly brought 
to me a feeling of smallness, such as I never be- 
fore knew ; she seemed to me the master of every- 
thing ; I believe I am psychologized ; I do indeed. ” 

“No, you are not,” laughed George; “the 


342 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


woman is an incomprehensible compound of 
irrepressibilities. I understand that feeling, 
and from my close observation thus far, a perfect 
mistress of the art she practices. She is a nat- 
ural botanist, bone-setter and physician, and last 
month, she performed a wonderful operation on 
a woman afflicted with cancer — burning it out with 
the sun-glass ; an old town doctor witnessed it with 
myself. The potency of the sun’s rays she un- 
derstands perfectly ; and the fact, also, at which 
I marvelled greatly, of their being styptic. She 
expressed it in her own way, re-assuring the pa- 
tient, by telling her the sun couldn’t kill her, for 
it shut every door it opened, leaving no crying 
arteries behind it. This is a wonderful fact ; arid 
the operation was marvellously successful ; the 
sufferer is about the house in apparent comfort. 
You need not fear to trust her. I would risk my 
life with her any moment,” and the added testi- 
mony of mother Charity and Millie Dean, gave a 
sort of relish to the confidence which, newly and 
strangely born, had filled the mind of Mr. Woods 
with conjecture. As to the construction of the 
physical, or its actual needs, he really knew very 
little, and when the thought by Rachel’s strange 
and unwonted interest was awakened within, that 
perhaps this inherited humorous blood, filled as 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


343 


it must be, with the desire for stimulant, might 
be gathered up and carried out of sight and con- 
tact, and with it die the curse that filled his life, 
he looked upon the light of a new star, whose 
beams of hope lay over the dark waters of his 
sorrow, and as the high swung light on ’shore, 
guides the mariner successfully to a haven of rest, 
the quiet harbor, where all his hopes shall anchor, 
so this one star lighted the farthest corner of his 
questioning soul, and he could hardly wait for 
the second coming of Rachel. 

What a strange fact it seemed to Charity Chub- 
buck and Millie ; and for that matter to all who 
knew the ins and outs, of white-hatted and white- 
souled George, that at his feet were constantly 
thrown the wrecks of men whose broken spars he 
gladly gathered ; whose leaking lives he fought 
to save ; and although many strayed from the 
path of duty, and forgetting to give due attention 
to the chart of their safety, dragged their grating 
keels on the sands of sin-commissions, George 
was never tired. All his best friends besought 
him, for his own good, but to the words of Aunt 
Patty, Mother Charity, and all, he turned a deaf 
ear, saying : 

“ Seventy times seven I have not as yet arrived 
at,” and sometimes feeling his lack of strength to 


344 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


look on all sides at once, lie would cry aloud, re- 
hearse to them his favorite quotation and couplet, 

“ Truths would I teach, to save a sinking land, 

All hear, none heed, and few can understand.” 

“What manner of man he is, the ages must 
decide,” said Mr. Woods, “we are only sure he 
is working daily, early and late, and not for emol- 
ument, never receiving one-tenth of what he earns. 
I allow I cannot follow in his steps — he goes clear 
out of sight ; distancing me ere I am ready to 
start ; and then we find fault with him sometimes, 
too — which is a shame, and may God forgive us.” 

George said no one must hear it, and yet how 
can one who knows, help telling of the one night 
which came during the first week of the Lawyer’s 
stay, when he suddenly felt the hand clutching 
for his vitals ; when his eyes were lured with liglit- 
like flame, and George sent Millie for Simeon in 
haste ; how the poor man drew from his valise 
some strange looking wristlets, and said to George 
in a husky voice, ‘ ‘ If necessary use them. ” Who 
saw those great round tears that fell from George’s 
eyes, as he took the manacles that were cold to 
the touch, and tenderly said, “No, no,. we shall 
not need them ah ! yes — who? Some one who 
never told of it before, and would not now, were 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


345 


it not to prove the strength of love and power of 
the valiant friends who fought through the ter- 
rible night — when quarts of the strong hop tea 
that stewed away on the stove in the kitchen, were 
swallowed madly and without effect. 

It was a strange, wild fancy that bounded him 
on every side, and George trembled ere it was 
over. In his hand he held the cruel wristlets ; 
he would not call them handcuffs, for it hurt him, 
and looked sorrowful, and wonderingly, first at 
the victim, then at Simeon. 

“ Must we do it, Simeon?” 

“ I should say we must ; my arms are growing 
weak ; and if he arouses again as before we can 
never hold him.” 

“ It is mania potu at the start ; oh ! how he suf- 
fers.” 

“Terrible,” said Simeon; see how tense every 
muscle of his frame is held ; see how he quivers ; 
he will soon spring from this fitful sleep ; the 
power of opiate is nothing ; have them ready. 

Ah ! what a picture that made ; stretched at 
full length on his couch, lay the demon-possessed 
sufferer ; his large and well built frame, with its 
thickly knitted muscles all visible, rising like so 
many long- ribbed seams under the quivering flesh 
—lus lips compressed and bloodless by the tight? 


346 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


ening of these throat-cords that ran under the 
jaw— eyes outlined by blood, which settled under 
and about them, and his broad, white forehead, 
resting, as marble, over the agonized face — his 
arms extended at full length, with the rigid lin- 
gers of each hand spread apart, he was like an 
iron man, all save the quiver, which ran with ev- 
ery movement over the muscles and through the 
nerves, causing his powerful breast to rise and 
fall like a surging sea. 

Simeon stood beside him watching every breath, 
and ready for an emeigency ; George at the foot 
of his bed, his hands behind him ; lest the eye of 
Mr. W oods should see what he held, for he might 
wake sane ; oh ! how he prayed that he would. 
Somebody heard it; yes, those who are forever 
on the wing, sent by him who hears all our im- 
plorations ; hears and heeds our heart appeals. 

Ten — twenty — thirty minutes ; the muscles grew 
less rigid— the breath came with less effort — the 
arms at first relaxed, with all their fingers, and 
then, oh ! yes, there was hope — hark, and look 
with your eyes riveted on the sleeper — see, the 
two men stand close together, there at the side of 
the bed, their heads inclined — their ears are strain- 
ed to listen — he turns, his lips are parting ; oh ! 
the spasm of hell is over— see the beads of sweat 


BLUE RIBBONS, 


347 


that rise on livid face and brow — hark ! closer 
bends a human ear ; he speaks slowly ; indistinctly 
and with effort, comes a guttural whisper from the 
parched and burning throat. 

6 4 Mary — Cordial. ” 

Yes — George has it ready— he knows — the doc- 
tor told him, and in a little shell-shaped bowl, 
one of those old-fashioned tea-spoons, he passes 
a drop of life, to the lips of the exhausted man, 
who whispers again, “more,” and opens his eyes 
to see the honest face of George. Simeon is sit- 
ting in a corner now, with his face buried in his 
hands — but he hardly realizes who he is, closes 
his eyes wearily, and dreaming still that Mary, 
his wife, is near, he whispers, “ Come and lie down 
Mary, take my hand — oh ! I am tired, tired, tired ; 
come.” 

Let him cherish his delusion, thought George, 
and motioning to Simeon to go to rest in an ad- 
joining room, he crept quietly over him, and tak- 
ing his hand, the two drifted into unconscious- 
ness. Simeon did not sleep — he heard the old 
clock say four, five, six, and then, with his head 
still full, made preparations to leave them, first 
ascertaining the perfect lucidity of Mr. Woods — 
and agreeing with George to return at night. 


348 


BLUE KXBBONS. 


“Sure bind, sure find — come, if you are able 
to,” said George. 

“ Weak, but all right,’’ murmured Mr. AVoods ; 
“I am safely through the trial, Mr. Bean ; thanks 
to you ; God be praised !” and just then our blessed 
little Janey came tripping through the gate, her 
box of birds under her arm, and a flock of birds 
in her wake. She paused at the verandah steps 
and announced herself with a long, sweet strain 
from the violin, little dreaming that she stood un- 
der the window where lay this happy heart, this 
man new born, as he felt himself to be. He raised 
himself on his elbow to listen. 

Never out of her place ; always putting a finish 
on whatever occurred; she told the story of the 
future, playing to the souls of those who heard, 
and Mr. AVoods, like all other human beings in 
trouble, took it all to himself, translating every 
strain, and fitting it to his great needs. Perhaps 
that is the right way — it seemed to George the 
child was lieaven-born, and heaven-sent, always, 
and when her playing ceased, he gave to his friend 
the history of this little maiden. 

Janey was born for friends, and when Mrs. 
Woods came from the city, which was only ten 
days after George’s return, she was instructed to 
luring to Janey a handsome doll, a nice dress, and 


BLUE EIBBONS. 


349 


bon-bons hitherto unknown to* our artless dar- 
ling — and then, man like, Mr. Woods added in 
postscript : 

“Get the prettiest rocking-chair you can tind — 
never mind the cost, for she has earned more than 
we can pay. Would we could have had a little 
girl of our own — every one needs such bits of 
sunshine, to brighten life.” 

Mrs. Woods was a timorous, sensitive woman. 
She almost shrank from Rachel at first, but her 
real goodness re-assured her, and hand in hand 
through the long summer, walked Hardy’s Oven 
and Apple Rest, Squire Loomis’ people, Simeon 
and Belinda ; also, Abel Bent (on trial). 

Happenings are not out of fashion ; they are 
like winter and spring; always have been and 
ever to be, and bright suns of August reflected 
the shadowy forms of men who, with their armor 
of duty on them, walked to and fro, not seeking 
whom or what they might devour, no ; perhaps 
it ought to have been told before, that Squire 
Loomis had presented to Blue Ribbons a build- 
ing for use as a hall— the little school house was 
being outgrown, with a long list of names which 
accompanied a new invoice of men from the town 
lying due north, six miles exactly. George had 
measured it with a steel tape ; by taking angles 


350 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


along the route, and guessing at it, and last but 
not least, went over the road two or three times a 
week, and paced the distance both ways. He 
knew that it was six miles ; no more, no less. 

It was this new hall that made the stir. They 
sanded the floor, and bought some new chairs and 
two or three long settees — a large arm chair for 
George himself, was contributed by Rachel, and 
j ust when September hung out her sign, and prom- 
ises of fruit lay all about Apple Rest, while the 
berries grew black in the woods, and the reapers 
grew red in the sun, and Mr. Woods strong in 
himself, with Rachel on one side to mark his 
course, and meek-eyed, dove like Mary at the 
other, whose thoughts kept tender chime with 
Janey’s music — with Simeon taking long strides 
ahead in knowledge, and George, head and shoul- 
ders above them all, keeping the perfect poise of 
his individuality ; with all these conditions fram- 
ing the faces of our friends, a first and full meet- 
ing in Loomis’ hall was held— and the dedication 
song and chorus was launched into air by a cho- 
rus of many voices. Jed. and Violet were not 
there — the air was sort of sacred near them, and 
they kept each other’s society through these days, 


CHAPTER XXL 


ILLIE,” said Mrs. Cliubbuck, “I am 
going over to see Vilit, she feels misera- 
bly. I’m afraid for her safety ; the child 
has never been as well since her mother died. I 
want to go alone ; you don’t care, do you? I sort 
of feel as if she wanted to see me.” 

“Go, by all means ; but do not tell me Violet 
can die ; oh ! we could never, never, let her go ; 
and she lias everything to live for ; she must not 
die.” 

“ Death is not the worst thing in the world; 
don’t talk so ; it sounds rebellious.” 

It was a white face that was pressed against the 
pane, looking after Jed’s retreating form, and 
thinking how handsome the face which turned 
lovingly back to look at her ; and, as he passed 
from sight, her face flushed with pleasure to see 
her dear aunt Charity coming near. She met her 
at the door. 

“Oh! I am so glad you are come; did you 
know I wanted you ?” 

I guess so; “you’ve been in mind three days, 
steady, and I couldn’t wait another minute.” 



352 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


u It is a nice time for us to see each other. Jed. 
has gone for his mother, who has been away two 
days, and I was mourning because I felt unable 
to go with him. Susan is here to wash dishes, 
&c., but come and sit close to me, where I can 
look right in your eyes.” 

“You feel bad, don’t you Vilit? You’re as 
white as a ghost ; all but them little pink spots 
on your cheeks, and they’re nothin’ but marks of 
bein’ excited because you was glad to see me. 
Tell me jest how you feel ; and she took her hand. 

“ Oh ! do not ask me to tell you just how I feel, 
for it will take so long ; there are so many differ- 
ent feelings that arise and cover me, as it seems, 
that I could not tell you ; but the whole of it is, 
that I have no strength, my limbs grow heavy, 
and my hands weak, daily. I think, perhaps I 
may be not so very far away from mother and 
she looked upwards, without tears, and no sign 
of sorrow, except the settled look upon her face 
that spoke her thought of leaving her young hus- 
band ; and, as her eye fell, she said tenderly, “I 
feel sorry to leave Jed. ; he will miss me more 
than the rest, though I know the good father and 
mother here, love me more than I ever dreamed 
they could, and you, and Millie, and George, and— 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


353 


but never mind, it is only a little time ere we shall 
all meet again. ” 

“Oil! Yilit, my poor girl, don’t talk so; you 
ain’t near dead ; people feel that way very often.” 

“ Yes, I know it may be I shall live ; but if I 
stay or go, it is best I tell you all I want to. I 
have a box for you, and you only, which I shall 
give you to-day, and the key to it is not to be 
used until I go, no matter when it happens ; will 
it trouble you to keep it? you are not curious.” 

Mrs. Chubbuck shook her head sadly. 

“No, Yilit ; but let me ask you a question. I 
believe you have set your mind on goin’, and I 
really believe you’d rather go than stay ; is it so V* 

The blue eyes grew watery then, and she placed 
a hand over them, as if to shut out something; 
holding it there for some seconds, then she looked 
into the eyes of her good friend and answered : 

“I believe it will be all right; I must say no 
more about it to you ; now tell me all about Ap- 
ple Rest and the new boarders,” and with won- 
derful calmness she listened to Mrs. Chubbuck, 
and talked with her ; and when Jed. and his 
mother entered, was as cheerful and happy as 
though she had not been an hour before so near 
the waters ; near enough almost to feel their chill. 
Mrs. Chubbuck went home sorrowful, and car- 


354 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


ried no good news to Millie ; she held the box 
tightly in her hands all the way, and talked to 
herself of the poor child’s last gift, and when 
fairly indoors and alone, gave vent to the bitter- 
ness within ; for, beside the thought of Violet’s 
death was another, that of mystery, something 
undefinable, a shadowy fear that crept close to 
her, which she tried hard to banish; “No, no,” 
she said, “it cannot be, it is only her condition of 
mind and body, but after all the exorcism she 
could furnish, there was a blot falling on a stain- 
less page, and a dim unreal, that brooded with 
her care through the sweet September days ; 
bright days were tinged with cloudy specks, and 
every prospect was touched, as by a grey, cold 
hand. 

When school commenced, no singing teacher 
came on Wednesdays, which was a source of 
great regret to both teacher and pupils. Janey 
gained a position by this absence, which she would 
have willingly relinquished, could the face of their 
friend come among them ; but as it was, she took 
her seat beside George, and sat as sedately as a 
matron, entertaining them weekly for an hour, 
with the voice of her violin. 

This was a treat to the children, and a rare sight 
to the many who came in, week after week on 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


355 


Wednesdays, to listen to her. Mr. Woods de- 
sired to bring Janey into public notice, but Janey 
shrunk from the thought, and Rachel forbade 
such a plan ; so there it ended ; all except some 
private soirees at Mrs. Woods’ house, where a rus- 
tle of silk and flutter of lace betokened the gath- 
ering together of the elite; those who were in- 
vited to witness her praiseworthy performances. 
Quoloty Nancy was invited to be present, and the 
flattering attentions paid her little sister, with the 
choice boquets and costly gifts lavished on her, 
quite overcame her prejudice against a girl tid- 
dler, and was a large drop in Janey’s overflowing 
cup. 

. Earthly happiness is not always predicated on 
a lasting foundation, and hearts which had been 
flooded with pleasure, like lighted rooms, were 
becoming desolate and dreary tabernacles, where 
fear held its abiding place, and sorrowful glances 
were cast upon Violet from all sides : Squire 
Loomis arid his wife were hoping against hope. 
George whispered tenderly, “ a fading flower;’’ 
Millie went tearfully into the land of dreams each 
night, and Mrs. Chubbuck drew long sighs, and 
said nothing. Simeon and Belinda whispered to- 
gether, and Jed., poor fellow, no one knew how 
to pity him, as with recurring days distressing 


356 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


symptoms alarmed him more and more ; such a 
cough. It seemed to him as if it was a living be- 
ing, this hacking in her throat that choked her so, 
and would not let her sleep, no matter what rem- 
edy was applied ; nothing did any good. Rachel, 
on whom they so depended, was powerless ; the 
old Doctor shook his head in a way that said, 
impossible, and told Mrs. Loomis, that the girl 
was consumptive born. N ever was any one more 
beloved than this Violet, and the perfume of her 
presence seemed so necessary, that not one of her 
friends could say, “it is well.” She knew and 
felt it all, and it held her to earth longer, and sad 
it is to think, it made her suffer more. They did 
not know it ; none save Rachel, who, when her 
eyes opened on this truth, that the desires of the 
people were pulling at the wings so longing to 
plume for flight, she walked right over to Mother 
Charity’s and told. her so. 

“ We’se to let go o’ the blossom ; she’s to go, 
an’ we hurts her, draggin’ her down to earth with 
a heavy weight ; aye, we’se to let her go, Mother 
Charity and Millie; we can and shaall.” No 
word to Violet, but it relieved her, and she told 
them so. Thank you she said for trying to be 
comforted. It hurts one more than you know to 
be the cause of so much sorrow, 


BLUE BIBBOXS. 357 

u It is a bitter, bitter mouthful,” said Mrs. Chub- 
buck, “but for her sake we must keep quiet ; it 
is but right and every day found her over at 
Squire Loomis’. 

When the first day of October came, there were 
hushed murmurs ; the old gig of the Dr. stood 
before the door for a long time. 

With the coming of sunset came the going away 
of the gig and its occupant ; and up in Violet’s 
chamber, a little white face lay still and waxen. 
The baptism of life was foregone, and the bud 
was inanimate. 

“ Shall we tell her?” they whispered; then 
the eyes of Violet, more tired now than before, 
opened into the face of Jed., and her voice mur- 
mured : 

“ The baby is not alive. I knew it all the time ; 
but let me see it. I must kiss her ; do not feel 
worried darling ; it is no disappointment to me.” 

They carried it to her, and she kissed the wee, 
small face, and they knew what she meant when 
she said, “Down in the garden, away down un- 
der the lilac tree ; cut off some curls ; pretty, 
pretty and smoothing the silken, floss like rings 
of hair that crowned the little one, she closed her 
eyes. It was enough, and she was satisfied, and 
with her hand in Jed’s, whose presence she con- 


858 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


stantly desired, she fell asleep ; seeing not the 
two women who went carefully over the stairs 
with the little white draped sleeper, and then 
with Millie Dean, who waited for the turning of 
the tide, stood beside the doll-like dead, and wept 
together. 

“My last hope is gone with this, and the child 
up stairs ; why, why am I to be thus forsaken ? 
God only knows my sorrow ; and even He cannot 
help me; if he could, he would let my darling 
stay; oh! Mrs. Chubbuck, when Violet goes, if 
father and Jed. and I could lie down beside her, 
and go with her to the happiness which is denied 
us here, I would lift both my hands and rejoice. 
Father;” and she turned her streaming eyes 
toward heaven, “grant my prayer ; thou knowest 
well, it is dark before us,” and Mrs. Loomis wrung 
her hands in an agony of sorrow. 

The days ran on, and brought with them more 
strength to Violet than they dared to expect ; she 
was able to sit in her chair, and all her dear friends 
went to see her. Janey carried over her box of 
birds, and played to her many days, and the old 
Dr. said there was hope ; but it would be so much 
better if it were April instead of October ; still, 
this was one of the most beautiful Octobers that 
Hyde ever knew ; the death of the leaves was 


BLUE RIBBONS. 359 

glorious, and the warm, pleasant days, made one 
feel there was a mistake in the calendar. Violet 
was able to ride to Hardy’s Oven and Apple Rest, 
and at the latter place she lay one long, full day 
on the lounge in the sitting room, with Jed. and 
Millie and Aunt Charity to watch over her. She 
took an early tea with them all, and when Jed. 
rolled her up in a shawl and lifted her into the 
carriage, she looked eagerly out at them, as good 
byes floated between, and spoke few words on 
her homeward ride. 

The leaves were all gone from the trees, save 
now and then a few on the sugar maples, that 
loved to linger behind their fellows, and Violet a 
little weaker for a few days, looked wistfully out 
at her window. He was coming ; he left her side 
only for a little while; Jed., whom she loved so 
well, and as his step sounded on the stair, she 
folded her hands tighter than usual ; she was 
thinking, oh, so much to-day. 

“My darling,” and he gathered tier in his 
arms ; “ are you tired V 

“Some tired, Jed.,” and the fair head dropped 
on his shoulder ; “bury me under the lilac, please, 
I am going away; oh! remember the promise; 
kiss me, Jed.” 

He pushed aside the wandering curls, raised 


360 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


her face with his hand under the chin, kissed her 
lips ; why, how cold they were ! ‘ ‘ Darling, he 
cried, Violet, oh ! my wife ; little mother, are you 
gone to the baby V ' her head fell from his shoul- 
der — she was dead ; and sitting there as if power- 
less to move, he held the inanimate form, a full 
half hour, straining it to his bosom, and calling 
her fondest names, unmindful of aught save the 
great need he felt of her love, her presence, her 
voice. His mother came quietly up the stairs, 
opened the door softly, lest she might disturb 
their loved one ; but at sight of Jed.’s face, and 
the form in his arms, went hurriedly forward, 
saying, ‘ ‘ Is she feeling badly V ’ 

“Oh!” said the stricken Jed., “oh! dead! 
dead ! dead ! ” 

“No, no,” she answered ; but the cold, clammy 
forehead, the poor, limp arms, yes, everything 
repeated, dead ! dead ! 

“My poor boy ; oh ! our Violet ; can we live 
without her f why did you not call me 1 we must 
lay her on the bed, and send Susan for Aunt Char- 
ity ; let me help you.” 

“No, no, mother, let me hold her longer, she 
loved to be here ; she nestled down in my arms to 
die ; she put her lips to mine, and then hid her 
sweet face on my breast ; let me hold her, it was 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


361 


her last desire that I should hold her close. I 
have called her so long, and she never before re- 
fused to answer, how can she be so dead ? cold 
and cruel is the hand that killed her ; oil ! I hate 
death ; liate it from this hour ; we want her so ; 
we need a breathing Violet, not this pale, cold 
flower ; oh ! my wife, my little mother, wake ! 
for God’s sake speak ! I call you, my darling; 
and he folded her tighter to his heart, which o’er- 
flowed with the bitterness of human agony. 

His mother crept quietly down stairs, and hur- 
ried Susan over to Mrs. Cliubbuck’s, bidding her 
speak to Mrs. Loomis on the way. 

Poor untutored Susan ; her’s was a sad task, 
for she loved so well the sweet, young wife, that 
no task would have been too great for her to have 
undertaken, and to think she must leave them ; 
she ran bonnetless and shawless, thinking of noth- 
ing, save the news she had to carry. She met Mr. 
Loomis and George at the cross roads, just a little 
way from the house, and half breathless, she ex- 
claimed, “ She’s dead, oh! she’s dead,” flying 
past them as if hurried. George’s wail was heart- 
rending, only hurrying \\er forward to Mrs. 
Chubbuck’s where, when her message was deliv- 
ered, she sank to the floor, and cried and moaned 
aloud : 


16 


362 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“We mustn’t stop now; there’s work to do, 
and at once.” 

Grief and time had strengthened mother Charity, 
and she was able to firmly close her lips and walk 
resolutely forward to the work before her. 

“Come, Millie,” she said; “you’d better go, 
Yilit would want you to do it,” and with trem- 
bling hand, the mourning Millie combed and ar- 
ranged the curls about the face and over the fore- 
head of the sleeper, thinking, as she did so, no 
flower as sweet as she would yield again a per- 
fumed breath. 

When Jed. yielded his burden, he went down 
to the lilac tree and, on his knees, besought strength 
to bear his sorrow. It was a stony look that set- 
tled with its calmness upon him, and he moved 
and breathed like a machine ; not until the day 
of the burial, when he realized that never again 
this face of clay could warm with life, when he 
stood beside her with a last, long, hungry look 
falling upon her, were the waters of the fountain 
unsealed. 

“Do not hurry him,” whispered his mother; 
“leave him with his own a little while,” and he 
was left. 

“Alone with my beautiful dead,” he cried; 
“alone with the speechless lips and the innocent 


feLtTE RIBBONS. 


363 


face of her who trusted me, I, who am not worthy. 
Oh ! my Violet, do not go so far away that I shall 
never be heard or seen. God help me to be worthy 
of your help ! but now, now, ah ! yes, now is the 
last kiss ; good-bye, and if you do not look upon 
me until the time I shall go out to find you, watch 
for me; meet me then; good-bye, oh God! this 
is too hard,” and he staggered backward, as if reel- 
ing from a heavy blow. George came and stood 
beside him, and arm in arm the two walked down 
to the lilac tree together, and there beside the lit- 
tle mound they raised another, and above the two 
a pure white shaft, with this inscription, 4 4 Our 
Violets.’" 

After the last service that could be rendered the 
body was given, in the farm house of Squire 
Loomis, sat the bereaved trio, also Simeon and 
Belinda, who offered to stay with them, during 
the first days of their loneliness. 

“It may be foolish to make you the trouble; 
nothing can help us really to bear our sorrow, 
save the help which comes to us from on high, 
still your friendship is blessed, and perhaps Jed. 
will forget a little more, if we do not sit down 
alone; yes, do stay.” 

At Apple Rest sat three only. Angels must 
find it hard to know which of the three loved Vio- 


864 


BLtJfi i&tBBONS. 


let best ; it must be they were adjudged equal 
worshippers at the shrine of her worth, and the 
manifestation each individual heart made had been 
genuine from the first ; but to one of these a secret 
had been intrusted. Mrs. Chubbuck had opened 
the box which Violet gave her, and what did it 
contain ? Some little keep-sakes of her old friend, 
Violet’s mother ; lace for a cap finely wrought by 
the deft fingers, now so cold and still, and last, 
but not least, a long letter to Aunt Charity, and 
a tender note for George. 

The last sentence in Mrs. Chubbuck’s letter were 
the saddest of all, and read so like a message from 
beyond. 

“Now that I am gone, let me whisper to you 
what none, save yourself and our good George, 
must know ; life has its secrets, and with me, 
death also. I could not have lived, dear Aunty ; 
no, I have been dying slowly ever since the cruel 
blow that so nearly took me from you. It was 
not the coming of our little one that took me from 
earth ; no, my heart beats were painfully slow ; 
consumption of both nerve and blood carried me 
farther from our earth-shore daily; do not let 
Jed. believe I could have lived, no, no; nothing 
could have saved me, and it is too bad I ever let 
him love me so, only for the sake, perhaps, of 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


365 


calling my soul nearer to earth, where I can hear 
him cry, for oh ! my more than dear Aunt Char- 
ity, he will need all the help you can give him ; 
all the pity angels can bestow. Do not ever curse 
him; he cannot help it; poor Jed.; nothing can 
make him less dear to me,* and the appetite which 
I fear will grow with years, is the bane of an in- 
heritance ; a cruel curse ; if our loyal Blue Rib- 
bons can only stay near him, and you can, with 
your love and prayers, keep him within reach of 
your strong sympathy, he may be helped to keep 
whole. Please give to George the inclosed note, 
and tell not my dear Millie, lest she feel bitter. 
Remember it is I, your V iolet ; your soul-freed 
Violet, who asks this favor. 

44 Lovingly, 

44 Violet Leavitt Loomis.” 

And George’s note was so like her, too, a touch- 
ing, tender appeal, which only said : 

4 4 My Dear Blue Ribbons : 

4 4 Let the love which fills your heart’s dear 
room, hold close my Jed. Bind about him the 
silken reins of your untiring sympathy and help, 
and oh ! if he should fall, please raise him, for, 
indeed, his soul is white as alabaster, and to him 


366 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


is due, eternal forgiveness. Be to him the true, 
just friend, whose arm has saved so many. 

“ God, who has shapen and molded you for this 
glorious work, will give you strength sufficient 
for each day, and his blessing will cover you, in 
the world where you and I will meet again. 

“Your Grateful Violet.” 

“Do not let the children at the school house 
forget me.” 


CHAPTER XXII. 



, LUE Ribbons is lonesome ; Mother Char- 
.ity is cloudy through the days, an’ all’s 
too sad wi’ the beautiful one so dead,” and 
poor little Janey held her face in her hands and 
cried, away in the leafless woods alone. u Rob- 
ins is gone awa’ she sobbed ; there’s naw music in 
the box, but a bit o’ a chipper, as just maakes me 
cry the more; an’ poor Jed. lad, when he comes 
to see me, puts arms around me close, an’ cries 
the tears, an’ tells me, oh ! she’s gaane so far, we’se 
never to hae her back ; oh ! deary dear ! an’ some- 
times Janey thinks she’d rather ha’ had naw Vie- 
lit ; then naw tears’d hae to come. It’s bad to 
waate so long for birds, but not so bad as Vielit ; 
birds eyes’ll com wi’ spring ; but Vielit ’s never, 
never!” and the bare oak arms swayed in the 
wind, as sob after sob came from her convulsed 
frame, and she wept till quite exhausted. 

That one long, blissful summer had given birth 
to wondrous happiness ; and now her sun was hid 
in darkness, and she sought vainly for relief, 
which came at last through her music, and fitted 
her, as everything did which she accepted. 


368 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


It was in the little school house, one of the 
playing afternoons, as she called them, that with 
her half-closed eyes, she seemed to see Violet’s 
face, as it was in the days gone by. The hand of 
recollection drew first the shadow of the face, and 
as the lids instinctively closed upon the vision, it 
grew as real as life ; and when the music hour was 
over, she whispered to her teacher : 

“I waaynt cry anymore; Vielit lives some- 
where, just in herself, wi’ the saiime blue eyes ; 
an’ she looked to Janey’s face to-day ; I’se glad.” 

No more tears of sorrow. The sweet face lured 
her from the shadow, and the dearer the music, 
the nearer the face. She told all her friends, who 
were only too glad of her smiles, re-born. .Pure 
waters reflect clearly, while older hearts and wiser 
heads, dwelling nearer the turbid river of change, 
saw not this memory picture as Janey saw it. It 
belonged to her ; and was her own true comfort. 
Each heart knowetli its own bitterness, and also 
how the victory is won. 

The work of temperance went bravely on, 
though no hands were as strong as those of 
George ; and to him, as by common consent, all 
the hard cases were consigned ; lie that will do, 
may do ; his reward was insufficient to satisfy 
another, and he committed many an injustice to 


BLUE BIBBOKS. 


369 


himself, which all knew was wrong ; still, his 
courage knew no change, and upon one of their 
annual meetings, when by reason of eloquent ap- 
peals to the sin-cursed, wrath pursued inebriates, 
the audience were moved to repentant and sym- 
pathetic tears, one poor old man, the most hope- 
less of them all, went up to the desk and said, 
give me the pen, Mr. Bean, I’ll try once more. 
George told the lecturer, on their way home, that 
the signature of that one sot was pay enough for 
anybody. 

What an original design George Bean mus 
have been made from ; no second pattern entered 
the world during the century in which he lived, 
which made it all the harder for George, and all 
the more glorious, too. 

“ Changes never come single handed,” remarked 
Mrs. Cliubbuck, when Violet passed from sight, 
and one blessed circle of friends will be all cut 
up. Her words were true; for, more than half 
the time George was in the city of Duke, and the 
work which lay before him, indicated that such 
would continue to be the case. 

Poor Jed. could not be content at home, and 
went away from home and friends to forget his 
sorrow among strangers. He fought bravely, 
obtained an honorable position, and for a time 
the sky of human prospects lay clear, over him. 


370 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Lawyer Woods was a new man, and every sum- 
mer foune him in Hyde ; from Apple Rest to Har- 
dy’ s Oven, and back, the line of his vacation lay, 
and Loomis’ hall echoed to the sound of his voice, 
which he raised in appeal against the destroyer 
of peace. He never told how many dollars went 
from his pocket to furnish a fund suitable for the 
establishment of an inebriate home ; still that was 
not so important as to know it was done, and more, 
to realize that hundreds of victims have been lift- 
ed from their degradation' up into the light of 
day. 

Squire Loomis left a legacy to it, which, unfor- 
tunately, was never received. 

Who forged those notes and took the Squires’ 
property, does anybody know ? and where was 
Jed.? yes, where? 

The white slab, “Our Violets,” looks lonely; 
for, with the lapse of years, such changes rolled 
across the sea, and months before the gun of Sum- 
ter spoke, Rachel and John, with the three ‘ gells,’ 
and Mr. and Mrs. W oods, were together on the 
deck of an outward bound steamer. George 
went down to see them off, and waved his white 
hat as they left the dock. Janey shaded her eyes 
with her hand, and cried, “good bye the best o’ 
all,” and Rachel called. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


371 


“Fare ye well, Blue Ribbins, we’se to be back 
while time. Keep the track o’ ’Ardy’s Hoven ; 
fare-ye-well.” 

The eyes of all were full of tears, and Mr. 
Woods, who had vainly entreated George to go 
with them, said to his wife : 

“I feel as if he were my brother.” She pressed 
his arm, and whispered : 

“More than a brother ; we shall never forget.” 

Millie Dean Stanley was in Apple Rest at that 
moment, with her husband and one little girl, 
and in a rocker sat mother Charity, grown too 
tired to do much about the house ; she was Mr. 
and Mrs Stanley’s comfort, and the baby’s “dam- 
mer Chubby,” and as the days went on, she sat 
with the mantle of peace which she herself, through 
deeds of love had wrought, covering her in pleas- 
antly falling folds. A comfort to herself and oth- 
ers, she often lifted her eyes and said, “Father 
I thank thee, and wait in peace the tide that bears 
me out to sea, over the path of waters ; by-and-by 
my boat will follow in the track of Nehemiah’s and 
Vilit ; yes, by-and-by,’ ’ and the baby in her arms 
would wonder at the two or three tears which fell, 
and with her little lingers wipe them away, and 
wonderingly say : 

“You’s a dood dammer, don’t ’ky, nobody 
won’t hurt dammer Chubby.” 


372 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“No, you little blessed ; grandma’s only think- 
ing.” 

There was no help for it ; Hyde had to grow ; 
and farther and farther into the woods went the 
mark of newly awakened trade, and the forest 
echoed the ring of the woodman’s axe; some 
grumbled and glowered ; others whistled and 
smiled, at a prospective chance of driving a sharp 
bargain for the town. Among the latter w r as Dea- 
con Ray ne ; after his wife’ s eyesight failed her, 
and he was obliged to have some one at the house, 
to do both in and out of doors ; run after chick- 
ens, milk cows, and keep both them and the pigs 
from the vegetable garden, make butter and 
cheese, and do according to the deacon’s cate- 
chism, handy work, he found great cause for 
complaint. “Nobody does half nor quarter what 
she did;” that was true; the hired girl never 
thought of being called on to mow away hay, 
shell all the corn, &c., &c., too numerous to men- 
tion ; she was wise enough to know that this work 
belonged to the men, and took one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per week for her services as 
readily as if she earned that enormous sum, Dea- 
con Rayne to the contrary, notwithstanding. All 
these serious annoyances and extra expenditures 
made, with the fact of his wife’s blindness, which 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


373 


was pronounced lasting, had the effect of condi- 
tioning him to receive an offer from the town, and 
the old still was sold, torn down, and its site 
graced by a large factory building, for the man- 
ufacture of clocks. 

Millie’s husband was foreman in one of the 
rooms, and Apple Rest was the same dear little 
nest through years ; all save the decapitation of a 
few old trees; but the stumps which were left 
held more, and were artistically utilized, and be- 
came large myrtle-laden cups, the long vines 
gracefully draping the wooded sides, and the one 
which stood nearest the verandah, held in its cen- 
ter clumps of blue violets. Millie called it the 
“ memory cup.” 

George grew to be almost entirely in the city 
and his seasons of refreshment at Apple Rest, 
were always delightful to all parties concerned. 

“ He ’ll bring us some story of his goodness; 
his almost foolish goodness to folks, but ain’t it 
strange where Jed. is? if he’d been here, he’d 
have had a good property ; yet before I die, Mil- 
lie, I mean to tell you what I think about them 
big debts of Squire Loomis’. It was dretful 
strange everything got swept away, and the 
Squire so straight a man ; no will, no nothing ; 
hem!” 


374 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


Hardy’s Oven could not be left intact ; a street 
was demanded through the woods directly back 
of the Oven itself, and the demand must be met. 

George wrote to Rachel, who linally answered. 

“Sell it, and take a hundred dollars for your 
trouble ; put it in the bank, an’ keep it agin a 
rainy day.” 

“That is like our sister,” said George, brief, and 
with a significant emphasis. I will do as she 
says, for, there may be necessity of my having a 
little more money.” 

Simeon’s cottage became a pleasant country 
seat, and was occupied by the happy hearts, 
through the summer. 

Mrs. Cliubbuck and Millie missed them through 
the winters ; still, the printed speeches of Simeon, 
and the fact of his strong, earnest work, which 
became so much a part of him, that even those 
strongest opposed to him in sentiment, could not 
fail to admire the fearless Congressman, com- 
forted them in their loneliness. 

It was remarkable that he should have taken 
such long strides ; very true, but whoever became 
truly, really great, that had not a history. 

Presidents are rarely born in palaces, and hum- 
ble homes and early hand to hand struggles, with 
conditions of varying shades, may be rehearsed, 
regarding others beside Simeon. 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


375 


Born of conditions, subject to them as the hands 
that hold our fate, the right word, right aid at 
the right time saved him, and long live Simeon. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


NOW, snow, everywhere; white flakes, 
large and soft, and looking before they 
touched our faces warm as eider-down ; 
but how deceptive appearances. It was the cold- 
est, most unsatisfactory April that was ever known, 
many people declared ; it seemed as if nature had 
borrowed man’ s caprices ; for in March she gave 
promise of opening her great heart, and with the 
death of the frost, allow her brown breast to be 
drilled by deep ploughed furrows, delighting the 
ambitious farmer, for whom she could not smile 
too early, and then, just as hope grew warm in 
the breast, up came the breath of a strong north 
wind, freezing anew the broken earth, making 
hard, uneven traveling; roads full of miniature 
thank-you-marms ; and then, as if it were not 
enough, let fall a sleety rain, that glazed every- 
thing over with a crust so dubiously formidable 
to comfortable locomotion, and after this second 
lesson, on came the third, and snow, piled up in 
the clouds and- down on the earth. 

“Well, well,” said George, who rarely ever 
thought of weather, “no work here until this 



BLUE RIBBONS. 


377 


storm is over. I think I will betake myself to 
the home of my boyhood, with its many graves, 
and its few old faces left to greet me.” 

It was toward dusk that he entered Hyde, en- 
tering Apple Rest in good time for supper, and 
he was right welcome. 

“ Is there any good news for me to hear ; can 
you tell me of any one who has registered an old 
or a new one, on our roll of honor ; has Blue Rib- 
bons cause to flutter around?” he asked. 

“I can’t say as there’s anything to tell, except 
we’ve got a letter from Rachel, and she is coming 
to see us. I’m glad I shall live to see her, and I 
expect I shall — no new converts to your cause, I 
guess. Folks are getting slack, tlier’ re drove to 
death with workin’ so; seems to me they work 
harder and enjoy less all the time.’’ 

After the supper was over, George thought of 
something to go up town, as they called it now, 
for ; it used to be across the lots, or over to the 
cross-roads. He desired to see the Postmaster. 

“I shall return immediately,” he said as he 
vanished. * 

“Wall, don’t forget it, George ; I hain’t forgot 
your old capers at which he laughed and an- 
swered : 

“Amen, and so be it;” and went on his way, 


378 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


under the starless, moonless sky, singing the 
hymn, “Oh happy day that fixed my choice,” 
while down in his heart lay mirrored faces of dis- 
tress, framed in a cloud, whose longing eyes 
haunted George day and night ; and leaving his 
verse unfinished, he buttoned his coat about him, 
pulled his hat farther on to his head, stepped 
with a firmer tread, as out ran the thread of his 
thought, on air. 

“Something must be done. A man. a live man, 
who should stand erect and firm among his fel- 
lows, penned in a narrow cell, six by eight feet 
in dimensions, dark and dismal, and wholly com- 
fortless. Three years nearly, he has breathed the 
agony laden air, and now, now, before him lies 
three more. He is not a villain, his heart is ten- 
der; oh! that he had less flinty hearts to deal 
with — men of steel. Twice I have sought his 
freedom, and they have repelled me. He did it, 
and he shall suffer; so saitli the law.” I say he 
did not do it ; the demon drink was the life which 
prompted him ; he was irresponsible in that hour ; 
oh ! I must get him out ; out into the sunlight ; 
out into the air ; and into the presence of his 
wife. Oh! how that woman suffers; and then, 
when he comes out repentant and sober, who will 
help him % we will trust. God help me to touch 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


379 


the heart of the brother to whom I am going for 
assistance and he looked upward, taking a long 
step forward.” Oh ! he stumbled and nearly fell, 
as he turned the corner — what was it a heap of — 
of — what? a man— “ Good heavens,” he cried, 
and knelt beside this human bundle. “ Who is 
this ?” he said, “ what in the world can it mean ?” 

It was an old camlet cloak that covered the 
frame, whose knees were drawn up to the chin, 
the cape of the cloak muffling head and face like 
a hood. 

George drew the cape away, trying in vain to 
distinguish the features ; had the moon shone on 
them, he could have done so. “Poor fellow, 
poor fellow, your hands are cold ; but there is a 
little life in them ; I can feel a pulse ; let me see 
if I can raise you by putting my hands under 
your shoulders ; brother, brother, can you speak 
to me?” 

A low moan escaped the lips. 

“Are you hurt, my friend? tell me if you can ; 
perhaps you know me.” 

“ Oh !” came from the lips. 

“I’m George Bean ; trust me, tell me who you 
are and where we shall go. I will take you to 
your home.” 

“George? George?” 


380 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


“Yes, George Bean; do you know me?” 

“Y-e-s.” 

“Tell me your name; 1 do not recognize the 
voice.” 

“ J-e-d.” 

“Jed. Loomis? oh! my poor boy, is this you? 
I must get some one to take you to Sister Chub- 
buck’s.” 

“No, no, to the lilac tree,” he said. 

George was sitting on the cold ground beside 
him, holding him up and waiting for help to get 
him out of the wind, and off from the frozen 
earth. 

“We must go to Sister Chubbuck’s first, and 
let you get rested.” 

The head was growing very heavy on the 
friendly shoulder, and George could not afford 
to wait for help ; but he had to, nevertheless — 
and every moment seemed an hour. At last there 
was some one near, and his heart beat gladly. 
Poor Jed. spoke, and a strange thrill ran through 
his frame ; George felt it, and listened to the 
words that slowly and painfully fell. 

“To the lilac tree — they are here ; Violet’s face 
and Janey’s music — heaven — home ; oh ! take my 
hand.” 

The hand he raised to his Violet, and the head 


BLUB RIBBONS. 


381 


on George’s shoulder fell at the same moment, 
and nearer came the help so needed. 

“ Hasten,” said George, “and help a fellow 
mortal.” Rough, but kind of heart — “who is 
he ?” the stranger said. 

“It is young Loomis, only son of the honored 
old Squire; he is dead.” 

“ Dead ; what can we do with a dead man ?” 

“We must take him to the nearest store, or 
some place where we can inform the authorities 
of the town, and decide what is to be done.” 

“ All right. I am a strong man, and better take 
hold of him right under the shoulders — you come 
here ; I guess I know who you are. You’re Prof. 
Bean, ain’t you?” 

“ I think I am,” replied George. This man lit- 
tle knew how hard a thing it was to feel that his 
well loved Jed., the one for whom he had so long 
sought in vain, lay dead in the streets, and all for 
the poisonous cup. George never forgot that 
night, nor the sorrow that touched the cup of joy 
at Apple Rest, when he carried the news. 

“ Oh ! oh ! oh !” said mother Charity ; “to die 
in the streets, how he must have suffered — bring 
him here — right into the front room let him be 
laid. Millie, we must, we wan’t to do it, don’t 
we ; and, George, be sure they bring the old cloak 


382 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


with him. His mother give it to him when he 
went away; told him it would be handy for him 
to have in a boarding-house ; to keep in his room ; 
to throw on to his bed, and round him, if he 
should be sick in the night ; I heard her say it. 
Yes, he was sick in the night, and you did want 
it ; oh ! you poor, poor, poor boy, and all I can 
do for Violet, all I can do is to kiss him, and cry ; 
but we 11 bury him, and we’ll say no harsh words. 
You said his soul was white ; you ought to know, ” 
and Mrs. Chubbuck wept not alone ; for how could 
any one look upon the sleeper, whose face was 
prematurely old ; whose hair was so profusely 
streaked with grey — not one of all who came, and 
they were many, but looked on the face and read 
the silent, but powerful sermon. 

The funeral service was tender and impressive ; 
and the homeless, houseless wanderer, was not 
friendless. 

From the kind and appreciative heart of the 
aged minister, to the tears in the eyes of the least 
among them, ran a genuine feeling, like a tide on 
which the barges of their thought floated down 
together ; if the harsh judgments held their place, 
they came as an after part, and not as an inter- 
ference with the sacred friendship of the hour. 

“ Well,” said George, with eyes nearly blinded 


BLUE BIBBOKS. 


B8S 


by tears ; it is all over ; we have buried our broth- 
er, who has been sacrificed on the altar of appe- 
tite ; and that altar was budded by human hands. 

We may not say how far individuals who hold 
kinship with him, were to blame for this ; we can- 
not know more than the fact that he was born 
with the mark upon him ; that he knew it; that 
his parents prayed long and earnestly, from the 
moment they realized this strong, dark fact. If 
the hour was too late, we cannot say, but this 
much we do know ; that if all hearts were alive, 
he would not have been suffered to die in the 
street, and alone. 

“ The suffering in his last days was terrible — 
here in my hand I hold a letter, written on the 
verge of his last delirium, just when he received 
the blinding blow that sent the present out from 
under his feet, and carried his weak, confused 
brain back to his home, the babe and wife. Thank 
God for the testimony it brings to me, that his 
soul was, as the flower said in her note to me, 
‘white as alabaster.’ Ah! yes, this mantle of 
physical degradation only covered the spirit. 
Hear what he says : the picture is retrospective, 
and a foreshadowing of his fate.” 

“ My precious blue-eyed “Forget-me-not,” 

My own flower Viqlet. 


384 


BLUE RiBBONS. 


“You have gone and left me, gone to find our 
little one, whose eyes opened only on heavenly 
things ; our darling, but not ours ; you have gone 
to find her in the babe’s heaven, for you know 
your heart is so pure, your soul so white, that you 
can enter there, and be with her. You told me 
to hold you, and kiss you, Yiolet, and I knew 
you meant for me to go in with you, but mother 
and Aunt Charity came and took you out of my 
arms; they would not wait for me to get away 
from myself, and so I have waited — waited a long 
and dreary week. It has seemed years, and I 
cannot wait any longer ; now I am going first to 
the lilac tree, to leave that dark part which confines 
my better self, and, oh ! Yiolet, wife, little moth- 
er, will you and our heaven -breathed baby come, 
and help me through to where you are. 

“God help her to come ; let my Yiolet hear my 
call — the call of her poor imprisoned Jed., who 
will soon be free and in heaven, in your heaven ; 
oil ! my Father, safe, and at rest ; no more pain — no 
suffering — no eating — no drinking — nothing but 
our Violets, and all that is beautiful ; with mu- 
sic floating round us there, more sweet than 
Janey’s. 

“Good by, mother and father, it is better for 
me to go and find her. 

“Jed.” 


BLUE BIBB0NS. 


385 


George rose and paced the floor — his eyes di- 
lated with thought ; u oh!” he cried, “can we 
stand it i can the hearts of men remain as cold 
and unrelenting as steel itself ; when we hold in 
our hands so powerful a weapon as this. It is 
proof of what I say — rum drinking is a disease, 
and must be treated as such. The victim needs 
the same help and watchful care, that is given to 
those who are subject to epilepsy, or like sick- 
nesses ; we need men and women who shall be es- 
pecially fitted, by an educative process, to care 
for these among us. 

“ Jed. was a jewel ; here is the record of rum’s 
work with his senses ; the ineffaceable record of 
its blighting, stultifying effect. It inundates 
thought, drowning the part that would fain prog- 
ress — over and over again these tides of hell 
flooded the home of flesh, until at last the struc- 
ture, whose foundation was, without his desire, 
laid on the quicksands, gave way, and down into 
the raging wmters he was carried, oarless and 
strengthless, over the dam of its maximum fury 
he was carried, and here at our feet the last vest- 
ige of his earthly wreck was cast. What shall 
we do? To me,” and he paused in his walk — 
“ To me , I say , it is a cry for lieljp ; a voice from 
the deep — a wail that comes to my ears over the 
17 


886 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


waste of waters, from the wreck, the shattered, 
crying wreck of a God-made man, — God give me 
strength to answer,” and, with his arms upraised, 
and eyes fixed in their expressed gaze, he drew 
long breaths, as filling with his thought he stood 
before his listeners, whose hearts were touched 
with wondrous power ; his lips parted, and the 
words that fell with trembling emphasis, were 
strong with his aroused feeling, and revealed the 
latent fire that kept alive the daily work of the 
fearless expounder and practicer of truth. In 
that hour he seemed lifted above his fellows, and 
those who watched, with tearful eyes, and list- 
ened with beating hearts, knew not the homeli- 
ness of his garb, saw not the stray locks of hair 
through which his restless fingers ran, neither 
dreamed that his feet were shod with coarse- 
grained coverings ; they only knew his heart ; his 
soul ; his purpose ; warm with life, and burning 
with sincerity, the flames of the sacred fire within 
glowed on the walls of their appreciating sense, 
and they with him breathed love and prayer, as 
in his great soul-lieartedness he swept the path 
before him clean, even to the very skies ; his 
hands, clasped now before him, one single tear 
rolled down beneath each eye, and his voice, like 
harp-strings, tender, and like wind- waves strong, 


BLUE RIBBONS. 


387 


threw out upon the tide of thought the challenge 
of his soul ; men and angels heard, and men and 
angels know and can testify how well he kept this 
word ; this white word of his uttered testimony. 

“ Our friend and brother, (speak it low, he said), 
the pride of our village, hath been slain. He who 
hath slain him will I slay, for he is my enemy, 
and his name is Rum ! his victims are legion, 
and his strength Herculean ; still may I hope and 
not despair, for if God be for me, who can be 
against me ? Oh ! ye rocks of Hyde, cry aloud, 
and ye, oh! mountains, tremble. Waken the 
slumbering people to their peril, and help me to 
be Jed’s Avenger!” 





























• . 








■ 


















/ 












• 

' 

. 

5T'i . ** 






• - . ■ . ,:■ .. ■ • 




















V 








- . 





























c 


















V . 






























.-* * 



















1 








■•', ‘ ' -O'" 
































■ v ' •; 










































■ 
































































































• V 




































\ 



■ ' ',*: * ' 




'-•% v 1 J;'* 







yvw »v. 

* « 

H&M 








xMw'’ 









; v ,:^s« ; 

■ 

. V-'- • •> ’ • V - . .••’ ■ ■.wv.Av.-^-v .«.■;■>■: ;. vy.\vA\\'\^'Vv. •: . 


k\V\ > v\W v\V\\>,\s\\V\\\\ \ ' 




>’CtX\\\\\ • a JttNVJCvv 


V. VXVOSV^ 'V 1 \X\\V\\S.'> 



